Very often, as your columnist goes through back files of “The Suburban” for information on a particular subject of which she may be writing at the time, her eye is caught by an especially intriguing headline.

So it was, a year or so ago, when she was searching for information on by-gone Christmas times in Wayne. In the December 1922 issue of the paper, a story entitled “Eleven Acres of Diamonds” caught her attention. It proved a fascinating tale indeed, particularly as those eleven acres lay not very far from Wayne. And now, 30 years after the original article appeared some reader of the column may be able to bring us up to date on “what happened next”.

The first paragraph of the story reads: “On a 11-acre farm just half a mile beyond Valley Forge, where Washington and his ragged, barefoot soldiers trod valiantly back and forth so many years ago, a modern Golconda has recently been discovered, with wealth enough to have clothed and armed the entire Continental Army and brought the war to a speedy and successful conclusion.”

Throughout the story, these fabulous 11 acres are given no more definite location. The owner was “a modest and unassuming carpenter, Morris A. Barr” who at that time lived in “a little framed cottage at the end of the property.” One day in July, 1914, while he was walking beside a tiny stream that ran through his land, he noticed a number of “glittering sparks” in the rocks beneath the water. When he showed a jeweler in Ardmore pieces of this rock, the jeweler pronounced the “glittering sparks” to be gold.

Since there had been several such finds in the general vicinity, this news was not so startling as it might have been. However, it was interesting enough for Mr. Barr to show various other pieces of mineral which he had picked to Colonel Henry C. Demming, at that time consulting mineralogist, geologist and chemist of the state of Pennsylvania.

When the latter pronounced them precious stones, Mr. Barr began to realize the possibilities of the value of his property. He then determined to make a study of these specimens for himself and, later on, various lapidists confirmed the interesting discoveries he made in regard to the variety of these specimens.

In a report compiled for the Pennsylvania Railroad by Colonel Demming, in regard to the natural rock and mineral resources of the State, the fact was brought out that 71 of them were to be found on Mr. Barr’s property. These included, according to the report, “veins of platinum, tin, and quicksilver (the first discovered in Pennsylvania), while in the list of gems were also some that had never been found before in the State”. Among these precious stones were, according to the account, “three white sapphires, which were exceedingly rare gems, besides opals, topazes, blue sapphires, jasper, sardonyx, lapis lazuli and many others… although some of these stones are to be found in other parts of Pennsylvania, such a wide variety in such a small space of ground has probably never been discovered.”

A statement from Mr. Barr explains that “all the stones on the property are found only in a so-called placer deposit that forms the surface of the ground, running from eight inches to eight feet deep. The deposit… covers only a portion of the farm, varying from 50 to 400 feet in width and 700 in length.”

A state mineralogist, after he had visited and inspected the property, suggested that the surface soil containing the gems was originally hot lava belched forth by an erupting volcano. This would, of course, account for the irregular boundaries of the gem-filled land. The gold vein, which was of the “vertical variety”, was over 10 feet thick. The owner had never dug deeper than 15 feet, at least up until the time of the writing of the article.

Although he had received various offers from persons who wished either to go into partnership with him, or to purchase his land outright, Mr. Barr had steadfastly refused to do anything about the development of his land.

“It is a curious experience, savoring more or less of the unbelievable,” states the writer of this “Suburban” article of 30 years ago, “to visit this land of gold and silver and precious stones, to be led through thicket and shady copses that abound there, to be taken down to the banks of the merry little stream and have Mr. Barr, suddenly stopping, hold out a handful of quite ordinary pebbles and matter-of-factly announce ‘These are opals and sapphires and lapis lazuli.’ Then, perhaps he will point to the rows of corn and potatoes and onions that he himself has planted, and tell how, as he ploughed the ground, he turned up stone after precious stone, while his wife picked them up and put them in a bucket nearby”.

In spite of the fact that all these metals and gems were assayed and tested by experts from various parts of the United States, Mr. Barr remained more interested in the spring of mineral water that he bottled and sold throughout this section than he did in his potential wealth. He attributed his own good health to the beneficial effects of this water.

However, he did have in his office a small cabinet in which he kept samples of the various stones and metals, some cut and polished, and others in the rough state in which he found them. Some few of the stones he had set in rings, pins and lavellieres, which he sometimes sold to those who came to buy his mineral water. It is said that he never solicited such sales, however.

An interesting little story was told in connection with a large star sapphire on his property. After it was cut and polished he sent it to Marshal Joffre, of France, writing that he thought the latter might like to own “a souvenir of the land on which Washington once walked.”

If, among the readers of this column, any one can give additional information in regard to the exact location of Mr. Barr’s farm, or of any further particulars of what has happened to it during these past 30 years, Mrs. Patterson will be glad to publish this information.

On Wednesday morning, April 15, a group of women filled to overflowing the spacious living room in Mrs. Howard C. Petersen’s home in Radnor, for the 1953 annual meeting of the League of Women Voters of Radnor Township.

Seated in the midst of this large group of representative women of Radnor township was the woman to whom, more than any other, the local League of Women Voters owes its organization. For it was Mrs. J.S.C. Harvey, of Radnor, who, on August 23, 1920, held an informal meeting, at her home, of a group then known as the Radnor Township League of Women Citizens, of which she was chairman.

Before the other nine women had left Mrs. Harvey’s home this name had been changed to that of the League of Women Voters of Radnor Township, one of the first small units to be formed in the United States of the National League of Women Voters.

The minutes of this first meeting state that “in changing the name and purpose of the organization… all felt a great and new responsibility, and faced it in a two-hour discussion on how best to meet this responsibility.”

Besides Mrs. Harvey, there were present at this organizational meeting Mrs. F.F. Hallowell, Miss Nancy Hallowell, Mrs. Allyne Martin, Mrs. John Kent Kane and Miss Helen Torpey – all members of the women’s suffrage organization – and Mrs. David Paul Brown, Mrs. F.A. Gugert, Dr. Marianna Taylor and Miss Mary L. Walsh as “new recruits to the cause.”

It was only three days before this meeting that national suffrage for the women had been won by the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the United States Constitution by 36 states, the required number to make the amendment legal. It was three days after this small local meeting that, on August 26, 1920, Secretary of State Colby signed the Suffrage Proclamation, making valid the 19th amendment. This Proclamation reads as follows:

“The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or any state on account of sex.

“Congress shall have power to enforce this Article by appropriate legislation.”

The first convention of the National League of Women Voters was held in Chicago in February, 1920. This national organization’s first president was Mrs. Maud Wood Park, a woman experienced in working for the passage of legislation. Almost a year before this in the spring of 1919 Carrie Chapman Catt, speaking to the leaders of the National Women’s Suffrage Association, had proposed “a League of Women Voters to finish the fight and to aid in the reconstruction of the nation.” The “fight” to which she referred was the struggle then almost won for national woman suffrage, while the “reconstruction of the nation” was that of the country’s need in a critical post-war period.

During more than 50 years, women connected with the movement had worked slowly but surely towards obtaining the right to vote in individual states. In some few of these states there had been suffrage for many years. And now, at last, a Constitutional amendment would make national suffrage a reality.

Those who, like Mrs. Catt and Mrs. Park, had labored long and against odds for this privilege, resolved to make the best possible use of it. And with this objective they pledged a new League of Women Voters as a “living memorial” to all who had helped to bring it about.

They set themselves three particular objectives: First that they would strive to educate themselves, the 20,000,000 new voters. Second, they would work for “needed legislation” and third, they would strive to arouse as many citizens as possible to participate in government.

The founding members of the League soon found, however, that their dream was too great a one to be realized very soon. To quote Kathryn H. Stone’s brochure, “25 Years of a Great Idea”, published in 1946, “20,000,000 women did not leap to the polls. Many displayed an aggravating lack of appreciation of the right which the League afforded them.” However, a small number of women, going about a great task, accomplished a surprizing amount. In the way of organization State Leaguers soon became the keystone of the League structure. These State Leagues selected a program and chose national officers. Members of the National Board “carried the enthusiasm and inspiration for the whole League to the smallest and most remote towns.”

Possibly Radnor township did not need this pressure from without to start its women to thinking and planning along League lines. Its inspiration apparently came from within, from such women as Mrs. Harvey and others who already had their “League of Women Citizens.” At any rate the date of their organization as a League of Women Voters follows very closely on that of the organization of the National group.

At their first meeting, held in August, 1920, they decided “to hold a general meeting as soon as possible to start an educational campaign, and to try to develop citizenship training classes thereafter.” Their immediate task as they saw it was that of assisting the assessors in registering women for the fall election. And with this in view, leaders for the different precincts were tentatively chosen for this work.

Other recruits soon joined the original ten. In the beginning Mrs. Harvey was the chairman, and other officers were chosen “protem.” The first regularly elected treasurer seems to have been Mrs. Marshall H. Smith, and the first recording secretary, Mrs. A.A.H. Canizares.

Through a happy coincidence, pictures of these three women taken during the first year of their term of office have been made available for use in today’s column. In 1921 Phillips and Phillips, prominent photographers of Philadelphia, assembled an album of pictures of such members of the Saturday Club as wished to have them taken. Among them are the three shown today, reproduced through the coutesy of the Saturday Club.

(to be continued)

(Since the publication of last weeks’ column on the precious stones and minerals found near Valley Forge, your columnist has had telephone calls from several people who gave additional imnformation. Mrs. Patterson will be glad to hear from others, as she plans a follow-up on the original article in the near future. The telephone number is Wayne 4569.)

The minutes of the early meeting of the League of Voters of Radnor Township show the eagerness of spirit with which its members set about the new tasks which the 19th Amendment had created for them.

In addition to the women named in last week’s column, many others soon joined the ranks, all of them representatives of other interests and organizations in the township. Among them were Mrs. M.S. Ketchum, Mrs. Warren Turner, Mrs. Humbert B. Powell, Mrs. Henry Roever, Miss Mary Bright, Mrs. W.H. Turner, Mrs. Henry Smaltz, Mrs. Walter Yeatts and Mrs. Y.P. Dawkins.

Still others were Miss Grace Roberts, Mrs. W.H. Roberts, Mrs. Frank Shoemaker, Mrs. Esther D. Tatnall (now Mrs. Esther Robinson), Mrs. Ross W. Fishburn, Mrs. Alan Calvert, Mrs. Frederick P. Ristine, Mrs. Walter Whetstone and Mrs. Frank Browne. And this is to mention only those who became members during the first weeks of the local League’s existence.

Although the National Suffrage Proclamation was not signed until August 26, 1920, the enrollment of women voters in the five precincts of Radnor township was completed by September 1. This was accomplished by members of the League, working in conjunction with the township assessors. In all, 1,348 women of legal voting age were listed in the township.

On September 21 an open meeting for citizenship training was held in the High School Gymnasium, at which Mrs. John O. Miller, chairman of the Pennsylvania State League of Women Voters, and Benjamin Ludlow, a prominent Philadelphia lawyer, were the speakers. Also, much enthusiasm was shown by those present, at a meeting held at the home of Mrs. Powell, on Windermere avenue, when Mrs. Lewis Lawrence Smith, State vice-chairman, talked on the necessity for women to fully meet their new responsibilities.

On November 2, many members of the local league helped as watchers at the polls in the five precincts. In all, some 800 women voters exercised their rights on this occasion “showing a general intelligence beyond all expectation”, to quote from the early minutes book of the Radnor League. Apparently, the League did not expect too much of the women of the township at the first election in which they were allowed to participate.

Various committees of the Radnor Township League were already busily at work. A report of the meeting at the executive board held on February 16, 1921, shows that Mrs. Warren Turner, representlng Child Welfare, spoke of a possible canvass of the township to enroll all children of pre-school age, so as to have physical examinations made and defects corrected. Another member suggested “the offering of prizes for normal children.”

Interest in the schools of the township was evidently keen, as shown by Mrs. Powell’s report that all five of the members of her committee had attended the last meeting of the school board. At this time “they helped start the fight for new school buildings, encouraging the board in their stand to overcome overcrowding and unsanitary conditions. Present high and grammar school have been twice condemned by State authorities. An open meeting of the League of Women Voters will be held on March 16 on school questions, when President Schock of the School Board and Superintendent Rowland will speak plainly of the needs of the school”, it was reported.

Mrs. Smaltz, reporting for township government, told of her committee of eight women, whom the township commission “will welcome at meetings.” She had obtained “helpful literature” for committee members, realizing that “all women need much education.” Justice of the Peace Hunter would also be glad to have the committee attend magistrates’ meetings if the “irregular times for such hearings did not make it difficult to notify the committee.”

Miss Bright, speaking for her committee on the legal status for women, stated that their purpose would be to obtain information, in order to support state movements. Her committee “would advise all married women to see that husbands made wills.”

At the March meeting Mrs. Dawkins presented “a single plan” for her committee on social hygiene, in which they would start by “finding out what has been done and cooperating with existing movements, including the Board of Health, Neighborhood League, etc.” She would also “advocate developing playgrounds and a community center for wholesome amusements; a high standard for motion pictures; good street lighting; helpful big sisterly contacts with boys and girls… and above all, to try to inspire and help mothers as the best teachers and friends for their children.” The executive board thought so highly of this all inclusive outline of work that they authorized Mrs. Dawkins to go ahead with carrying it out, if “the county chairman approves of her outline.”

By the time of this March meeting Mrs. Smaltz’s committee had had an opportunity to attend the February meeting of the township commissioners, where they learned “much of interest regarding compromise settlement with Springfield Water Company, increased tax rates, and re-arrangement of street lighting.” The committee also reported on a conference with the board of health and of informal discussion in regard to a building code.

These brief excerpts, from the first minute book of the League of Women Voters of Radnor Township, show the keen interest its members immediately took in matters of township government and of township schools as soon as their organization was completed and their committees formed. In general they were following the outline of work as presented by the national league, which emphasized the study of “efficientcy in government, of education, of child welfare, or economic welfare, of the legal status of women and of international cooperation.”

For reporting on the great success of the 1921 National Convention, held in Cleveland, Mrs. Hartshorne, chairman of The Delaware County League of Women Voters, told the local leagues of an attendance of almost 600 delegates, of whom 66 were from Pennsylvania, the largest representation from any one state. Pennsylvania also led in the number of organized counties, 44 out of 67 in all.

By this time, membership ln the local League of Women Voters had passed the 100 mark, which entitled the group to nn extra delegate to the county executive meetings. By the May meeting this had been increased three-fold as a result of a two-week campaign put on by Mrs. Marian R. Troth, chairman of the membership committee. And with increased membership, came even more activity on the part of the newly formed League of Women Voters.

(to be continued)

The minutes of the League of Women Voters of Radnor Township, under date of July 12, 1921, record that the organizatlon then had a membership of 492.

This was less than a year after 10 women, meeting at the home of Mrs. J.S.C. Harvey, In Radnor, on August 23, 1920, had changed their former name of Radnor Township League of Women Citizens to the League of Women Voters of Radnor Township.

At this same July meeting, Mrs. Humbert B. Powell, reporting for the school committee, told of a meeting attended by members of the school board and a group of citizens, at which there had been opposition to all three of the sites proposed for the new high school building. The interest of her committee had been unflagging in this much discussed question. It was, perhaps, partly because of this, that Mrs. Powell had been approached by the Republican Township Committee to fill the vacancy then existing on the school board. To this she had consented.

An animated discussion ensued at this meeting concerning a policy in regard to endorsing local candidates. There had been so many different viewpoints on the matter in state policy that eventually, a special meeting was called by the Radnor group to settle the question locally. By a rather close vote, the motion finally passed, that the “Radnor Township League for the present does not go on record as endorsing any candidate.” However, when the new by-laws came up for adoption the following September, this particular section was omitted “since the state conventlon was expected to formulate their policy very soon.”

When Mrs. Powell’s name came up for election to the school board the league did endorse her. She was a successful candidate and maintained her place on the board untll 1928, when she moved to Devon and resigned.

Mrs. T. Magill Patterson (your columnist) was chosen by the board to fill out Mrs. Powell’s term of office. And when her name came up for the six-year term of office in 1929 the league endorsed her as a candidate. Their assistance helped to win the election for the only woman on the slate.

At the annual meeting of the league on November 23, 1921, Mrs. Y.P. Dawkins was elected to succeed Mrs. Harvey as chairman. One of the early events of her regime was an evening meeting held in the early spring of 1922, under the joint auspices of the Saturday Club, the Men’s Club and the League of Women Voters, for the purpose of meeting candidates running for office at the state and county elections.

The history of the league, as given in this column up to this point, has been based on the very detailed entries in the first Minute Book. However, the information given from this point on is based on a brief resume of the subsequent minutes as made by Mrs. Paul W. Bruton for the annual meeting held on April 15 of this year.

Chairmen who succeeded Mrs. Harvey,in addition to Mrs. Dawkins, were Mrs. Marshall Smith, Mrs. P.B. Weaver, Mrs. H.K. Hill, Mrs. Weaver (second term), Mrs. Oswald Chew, Mrs. J. Prentice Murphy, Mrs. E. Shippen Willing, Mrs. George S. Worth, Mrs. J. S. Curtis Harvey, Jr., Mrs. J. Barclay Jones, Mrs. John Meigs (now Mrs. Clarence Tolan, Jr.) Mrs. Thomas B. Harvey, Mrs. Henry Ecroyd, Mrs. Joseph Aronson, and Mrs. Boudinot Stimson.

From 1920 until 1928, women who headed the league were called “chairmen”, while from 1928 until the present they have been called presidents. It is interesting to note that among Mrs. J.S.C. Harvey’s successors have been her daughter, Mrs. l. Barclay Jones, and her two duaghters-in-law Mrs. J. S. Curtis Harvey, Jr., and Mrs. Thomas Harvey.

Beginning in the latter part of 1923 and continuing into 1924, there seems to have been a great lessening of interest in the work of the local league and a large loss in membership of today’s league. Mrs. Bruton has noted in her resume that by February, 1924, there were only about six members who were really active.

In an effort to revive former enthusiasm, the league held a large luncheon, at which Mrs. Gifford Pinchot was guest of honor. The attendance reached the 500 mark. But this one event did not lead to permanent enlargement of membersblp or replenishment of the treasury. There were no regular meetings from February, 1925, to November, 1927, and indeed no annual meetings, either in 1925 or in 1926.

However, there must have been interest in the work of the Delaware County League since in May, 1924, the Radnor township group contributed about $500 towards the building of a clubhouse in Media which is the joint property of the County League and the Media Woman’s Club. The 1926 program in Wayne included a course of six lectures on Pennsylvania State institutions, which had a fair average attendance.

Programs for this general period, as suggested by the national league, included study of such matters as immigration, bills, naturalization, the multilateral treaty, cause and effect of war, the marriage code, child labor laws and the city manager plan. In 1941, the group became interested in the work of the board of health; In 1942 there was a study group on living costs and in 1943 they helped to inaugurate the Radnor Schools Day Camp, an outstandlng project which has been successful each summer.

Before going into a report on the present highly effective League of Women Voters of Radnor Township, as we shall do in the concluding number of this series, it may be interesting to share with our readers a letter received recently from Mrs. Charles C. Suffren, of Strafford, one of the veteran workers in the women’s suffrage work, and an intlmate friend of Mrs. Corrie Chapman Catt. Mrs. Suffren writes: “I was very close to Mrs. Catt and loved her very dearly – helping her to build up the Woman Suffrage Party of New York City. I was vice-chairman of it for seven years.” Mrs. Suffren considers the work of the league futile in many respects… “All they do is study”, she writes. “They study everything and get out the vote! I think they should follow Mrs. Catt’s instructions, as given in her last speech to the League of Women Voters… she evidently meant them to force their way into the caucuses, both Republican and Democratic – to insist upon some women candidates. The ‘Motherhood of the Wide World’ can never be done by men! The League of Women Voters prides itself on being non-partisan; they would never be so considered if they worked to put into office both Republican and Democratic women. Women in government offices were never more needed than now – with our problema of juvenlle delinqueney and narcotics.

(To be Concluded)

The facts embodied in the enthusiastic report of Mrs. Boudinot Stimson, retiring president of the League of Women Voters of Radnor Township, are indeed proof of the success of the 1952-53 season for the league.

Referring back to the minutes of the first annual meeting, held more than 30 years before. Mrs. Stimson quoted their aims “to face the new task… to make their vote worthwhile.” This meeting had been held a little more than a year after the signing of the Suffrage Proclamation, making valid the 19th Amendment. In Mrs. Stimson’s opinion, the greatest difference between the past and the present of the local league is that formerly the group “concentrated more on the women in the community – while at present we work to ‘promote political responsibility through informed and active participation of all citizens in government’”.

With the enrollment of 45 new members the total had reached 255 at the time of this annual meeting in April. The cross section membership – representing as it does all social, education, economic, political and religious groups – is the best assurance that positions taken by the league on governmental issues are in the interest of the community as a whole, and not in the interest of any one set of people.

Meetings held during the past year are descriptive of league interests. In September Miss Elinor Wolf came from the state board as a speaker on international relations, while the voters’ service meeting consisted of a skit done by members of the local league. Samuel Evans, Jr., was interviewed by two members of the Radnor Township League in connection with the public health program. David Eastburn, of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia, was the speaker at the luncheon meeting at the Wayne Hotel, taking as his topic, “Budgetary Procedures of the Congress”. At the membership orientation meeting each chairman gave a short resume of her work. The program at the meeting on local government consisted of a skit by the local government committee.

The Radnor League and the Haverford League together conducted a panel discussion on the Revisions of the Constitution. At two evening meetings which took place at the Saturday Club the league was one of a number of sponsoring groups. And then there were two area meetings to choose the “State Item” for 1953-55.

In addition to regular meetings there were various other activities of the Radnor Township League. Among these were three study groups in three different areas of the township, Rosemont, St. Davids and Wayne. These groups took up “Tariffs and Technical Assistance to Underdeveloped Counties”, and in this connection there was a display on international trade at the [events].

During United Nations Week the league arranged for a U.N. movie, “This Is the Challenge” at the Anthony Wayne Theatre. In addition, the group had a display in the window of Wack’s Pharmacy, showing a map of the world, with strings attached to packages of drugs to indicate the countries from which they came and showing America’s interdependence on other nations for its medicine.

Among other interesting highlights of accomplishment for the year was the presentation of a handsome U.N. flag to the Wayne Grammar School, with a young Egyptian exchange student as the speaker. And in December, 36 members of the league went on a bus trip to the U.N. building in New York. On this occasion the Indian delegation gave its proposals for the peace treaty at Panmunjon in the General Assembly “with Vishinsky making his usual anti-everything speech”, to quote the league notes.

So impressed with the “spiritual qualities” of the U.N. was one of the women in the local league that she contacted the women in the Wayne Council of Churches. As a result these women, 105 strong, held a luncheon meeting for the purpose of gaining more information on the subject. “This is what we hope the league “will do in the community”, writes Mrs. Stimson, “that is, getting other organizations and citizens to take over our interests.”

In connection with the study groups on “budgetary procedures of the Congress”, the league reports much cooperation on the part of Congressman Benjamin F. James, who serves on the House Appropriations Committee.

The chairman of the voters service committee reported much activity, including the distribution of 4000 General Election Candidates’ Bulletins. Her group also provided transportation to the polls on Election Day, in addition to having a window display showing location of polling places.

Among the matters of state interest that of school financing and the equalization of assessments had been the center of much interest. However, the education chairman of the local league, who has also served in the same capacity for the state league, has not found it an easy matter to arouse public opinion and to gain the cooperation of public officials. At a meeting of the county council to be held in Haverford, on May 27, this will be the main topic under discussion, with the Radnor League presenting the subject of “State Financing of Education” on the panel.

The work of the league’s public health committee falls into three main divisions: efforts to improve public health in Radnor township, education of league members, and the establishment of a public health unit in Delaware County. The committee interviews members of the board of health on such matters as quarantine laws and attention to health of food handlers. Also the matter of water pollution, especially in connection with Gulf Creek, has come up for much discussion.

The local government committee has had a season of much activity, for in addition to their own meetings, they have attended nine meetings of the Radnor Township Commissioners since January 1952.

The matter of township financing was strictly a study item, but that of working for a planning commission for the township has been less of a routine matter. Much of the ground work for the community meeting on planning held at the grammar school on April 21, was laid by the league. The capacity audience on this occasion testified to the interest of township citizens in this matter. In her report Mrs. Stimson writes, “this is what we have been hoping for… that one of our projects has stimulated citizen thinking and promoted citizen responsibility in our community.”

The legislation committee has also done its share this year by its study of apportionment and of revision of the Constitution. A display in Wack’s window of beautiful old parasols and other outdated items contrasted past with present needs, and on February 21, apportionment day in Wayne, 1000 fliers were distributed via a 1923 Model T Ford by league members dressed in old fashioned hats and dusters.

In this brief resume we have been able to touch on only the highlights of the 1952-53 season of the Radnor Township League of Women Voters. As Mrs. Stimson goes out of office she is succeeded by an equally efficient president, Mrs. Thomas C. Cochran, and the league will continue on its way, untiring and undaunted. (Conclusion)

In the April 17 issue of “The Suburban”, your columnist told of a story entitled “Eleven Acres of Diamonds.” In looking through the issue of the paper for December 1922, she had run across this fascinating tale of “an 11-acre farm just half a mile beyond Valley Forge”, whose owner had found rocks with “glittering sparks” which a Main Line jeweler had pronounced to be gold and other pieces of mineral which were found to be precious stones.

The owner of this property was Morris A. Barr, described as “a modest and unassuming carpenter”, who at that time lived in “a little frame cottage at the end of the property.” And also, although the original article contained many more details of Mr. Barr’s valuable finds, the farm was not once given a more definite location than that of the original description of “half a mile beyond Valley Forge.” And so your columnist appealed to her readers for any additional information they might have.

Promptly after “The Suburban” had come off the press that week telephone calls began. The first was from Herman P. Lengel, a builder residing on Conestoga road and an old time Wayne-ite. Mr. Lengel remembered Mr. Barr well and knew the exact location of the property he had owned. It was to the west of Valley Forge Park, along a road that branched off to the left from the Phoenixville road, not far from where the Valley Forge Postoffice is located.

According to Mr. Lengel’s recollection It was called “Jugtown”, probably because of the bottling works which Mr. Barr conducted there.

When the telephone rang next, the call was from Mrs. Helen Lienhardt, another old time resident of Wayne, who also remembered Mr. Barr and verified the location of his 11 acre farm as given by Mr. Lengel. She offered to take your columnist out to “Jugtown”, to see what changes had taken place there in the past 30 years.

And then came other calls, among them one from Mrs. Elliston J. Morris of Midland avenue, who recalled a trip to the Barr farm, on which she had taken her Girl Scouts of Wayne Troop 131 some 20 years ago to earn their “rock finder” merit badges. Mrs. Morris, then Miss Myra Paxton, recalled the many “lovely colored stones” that the girls found in the field back of the house, which were colored quartz.

Another call was from Mrs Jean Supplee, of Valley Forge, who gave the interesting information that metal, such as had been found on the Barr place, lay also in much of the surrounding country, even as far as Devault. The quantity in which it had been found however, was not of sufficient extent to make the mining of it profitable.

Still another telephone caller was Dr. E. Lee Porter, of Walnut avenue, now a member of the Troop Committee of Paoli Scout Troop 1, and a one-time scout in that same troop. Dr. Porter recalls vividly the times he wandered over the Barr property when he was a youngster. Several people, including A.M. Ehart, editor of “The Suburban”, remembered buying bottled water from Mr. Barr.

But even before that last of these and other telephone calls had been received, your columnist had had an opportunity to visit Valley Forge Mineral Bottling Works for herself. For on the day on which the story of Mr. Barr’s “Eleven Acres of Diamonds” appeared in this column. Miss Lienhardt and the writer had a pleasant drive and a profitable visit to this spot. It is now owned by Frank Coughrey, who leased the property from Mr. Barr in 1935, and several years later bought it for himself. Mr. Coughrey had worked for Mr. Barr for some years before the latter moved to Royersford, where he still lives.

The business is now a large and prosperous one, with its main office in Norristown, although the bottling of the mineral water is still done on the original premises, Mr. Coughrey keeps six trucks continuously on the road, making deliveries of this now famous water. When he first came to the bottling works, Mr. Coughrey states, there were both iron and sulphur water available there, although there is only alkaline now left.

As to the valuable ores and precious stones which Mr. Barr once found in such profusion, there are none around now. The beautiful little stream, along which many of these stones were picked up by the former owner, still makes its way through the property, its water remarkable clear and sparkling. To what has previously been written in the column. Mr. Coughrey adds the interesting piece of information that a great piece of metal was once dug up on the farm. Some think this may have been a meteor.

The main building on the property contains a large assembly room with an immense fireplace in the center of the outside wall. It is flanked by cabinets in which there are still on display some of the specimens dug up by Mr. Barr. The room also contained, at one time, many Indian relics, which had been found in a large sand hole on the property. During past years the room has been used as headquarters for a nearby Scout Troop. During the height of interest in the specimens, Mr. Barr called this “Valley Forge Museum.”

So much for what your columnist had learned up to Wednesday of last week, in regard to the story she had published almost a month before. Then came a letter of many typewritten pages, postmarked Rogersport, from Mr. Barr himself.

Robert Perry, an old time employee in the Wayne Postoffice, had thoughtfully sent him a copy of “The Suburban” of April 17.

Most of the interesting contents of that letter will have to be reserved for a subsequent column. Suffice it for now to explain the origin of the story which first appeared in “The Suburban” more than 30 years ago – an origin which has puzzled even the editor, whose memory covers many a year.

It seems that Frank Haviland, a reporter living In Phoenixville at the time, wrote the “Eleven Acres of Diamonds” story for a syndicate of newspapers published from coast to coast. These newspapers, numbering some 250, were among the largest in the country. Mr. Haviland also took several pictures in connection with his story and these were used by United Features Syndicate of New York.

“That was possibly where your Wayne paper got the story as so many other local papers did”, writes Mr. Barr who adds, “However, I knew nothing at the time of what I would have to face later because of that wide circulation. For it brought more than 20,000 people to my house and plant by the side of the road, among them representatives from 29 foreign nations.”

(To be continued)

The syndicated newspaper article in regard to Morris A. Barr’s “Acres of Diamonds”, near Valley Forge, on which recent stories in this column have been based, was not the first newspaper notice this unique spot had enjoyed. In the most recent letter your columnist has received from Mr. Barr, now a resident of Royersford, he encloses a copy of an item from the now defunct “Public Ledger”, the headlines of which read, “Foch to Get Star Sapphire Found Near Valley Forge.”

An account of a similar stone sent Marshal Joffre, hero of the Marne, appeared in this column on April 17. Like the gift to Joffre, this “Twinkling star sapphire presented to Marshal Foch, was light blue in color, with four lights, or stars, which make it sparkle continuously.” Although not weighed at the time of the “Ledger” article, it was, up to that date, the largest of a number of such gems found in the bed of a stream which flowed through Mr. Barr’s grounds.

A copy of a clipping from “The Black and White”, the publication of the Kelley School of Philadelphia, gives a brief account of Mr. Barr’s business activities before he purchased the property near Valley Forge, as well as an interesting story of how he happened to discover the springs on this land.

He was by trade a basket-maker, later becoming a builder whose work appears in many of the Main Line homes of that period. His invention, in 1917, of the quick change machine, which was successfully used in the Ardmore National Bank, won for him a “Certificate of Merit” from the National Institution of Inventors.

After his purchase of the acreage near Valley Forge, Mr. Barr’s discovery of the mineral waters on it came about when he found that the tiny tracks of field mice across the snow led to small holes in the ground. When he dug down through the snow he “found water flowing freely from ten little springs.” Later on he had this water piped to the basement of his home, and when Mr. Barr had established a market for his spring water, he located his sterilizing and bottling room adjacent to these basement outlets.

Still another spring was found when the house was being built. This Mr. Barr protected by an eight-inch layer of fireproof clay, while underneath was a natural filter bed of sand and gravel 12 inches thick. This filter overlaps a vertical vein of Potsdam rock through which the water rises from unknown depths at the rate of 500 gallons every 24 hours.” The school paper continues in its account by saying, “chemists, geologists, government inspectors from all over the world have inspected his place and have given Mr. Barr much encouragement. He has, up to the present time, found five different kinds of water, namely plain spring water, iron water, sulphur water, lime water and alkaline water.”

According to Mr. Barr the physical development of his plant finally reached a total cost of about $95,000. At one time he had some seven delivery trucks on the road with personnel averaging 15 men, including distributors.

The strain of this business, along with that of the daily rush of visitors anxious to see his collection of precious stones and minerals finally proved too much for his health. Upon the advice of his doctor, Mr. Barr sold out to Frank Caughey.

Old time residents in the Wayne area recall Mr. Barr personally, as they were regular patrons on his route in the early days of the discovery of the medicinal quality of the water.

The finding of the precious stones and metals by Mr. Barr was quite as accidental as that of the discovery of his many springs. While walking along the little stream which was later to yield so many interesting finds, Mr. Barr picked up some rocks, the “glittering sparks” in which were later pronounced to be gold.

Other discoveries were made when Mr. Barr was putting a pipe line from the springs of mineral water to the basement of his house. This initial find was said to be worth more than $1500, with moonstones, topazes, lapis lazuli, sapphires, jasper, sardonyx and opals among the precious stones in the find. While digging again, Mr. Barr picked up a piece of tourmaline “the size of a fist”, with a value of several hundred dollars placed on it.

It was at this point that Colonel Henry C. Deming, at that time consulting mineralogist, geologist and chemist of the State of Pennsylvania, was called into the picture, as told in our first story. Later Mr. Barr himself, made an extensive study of gems and minerals in order to evaluate his daily findings.

The first published report of his discoveries brought visitors from far and near. Local schools and colleges sent entire classes by bus, the students often remaining to picnic beside the famous little stream where so many interesting and valuable finds had been made.

The Deans of Ursinus and Villanova Colleges were among Mr. Barr’s visitors. Other well-known men from more distant points included Professor Wilkinson from Glasgow University and C.E. Lubenberg, director of diamond mines in Ermelo, South Africa. Dr. Russell Conwell said, in his last radio broadcast, “I wrote the book ’Acres of Diamonds’ and gave the lecture over 5,000 times. It was fiction. I have now found the man who has the true ‘Eleven Acres of Diamonds’, Morris Abner Barr of Valley Forge.’ ”

With a further account of these and other widely known visitors to the famous eleven acres near Valley Forge, this series will close in next week’s column.

(To be concluded)

Since writing the previous installment of her story of “Eleven Acres of Diamonds” which appeared in “My Town and Your Town” last week, your columnist has had a personal call from Mr. Morris A. Barr, one-time owner of the land.

Now in his middle 70’s, Mr. Barr is a striking example of what a man of small formal education, but of native intelligence and great ambition, can accomplish in “three score years and ten.”

His interests through these years have been many and varied. One of a large family of children, he knew little but hard work on a Berks County farm as he grew up. With his first hoarded earnings he bought a piano, and later on, he wrote a number of poems and songs, many of which have been set to music.

On the more practical side he learned to be a carpenter and builder, and he turned his talents to several inventions, among them a “quick change machine” now in use in a number of banks.

This, then, is the man who made the discoveries of ore and precious stones on his property near Valley Forge, that won for it the descriptive title, “Eleven Acres of Diamonds.” Although Pennsylvania is known as a state of natural rock and mineral resources, it is amazing that so many of them should have been found in such a small area. Perhaps the most likely explanation is that of a former State mineralogist of Colorado, who said that “the surface soil containing the gems was originally hot lava sent forth by an erupting volcano”, and that such a combination of minerals and metals is found only in a “place deposit” (the result of volcanic action).

Thirty years after his startling discoveries, Mr. Barr is still being asked to give talks about his one time famous property. Only this spring, after a lecture delivered before the Rotary Club of Royersford, he found that among his audience there were three men who had heard him talk on the subject in the early 1920’s.

This measure of fame is perhaps some small recompense for the fact that Mr. Barr realized little in the way of monetary gains from the sale of his numerous finds. These finds were never in large enough quantities to warrant mining, and although Mr. Barr made sales from time to time, many of the minerals and gems were given away by him as gifts to various people.

Of his gift collections, one is as close as Radnor High School, another as far away as Baghdad, the Chester County Historical Society, which has made Mr. Barr a “life member”, owns a large number of his finds, among them several polished and mounted gems. George Currier, former curator at LeHigh University, who at one time gave a series of afternoon talks at Mr. Barr’s Valley Forge Museum, owned a number of the latter’s best specimens. The Delaware County Institute of Science has in its possession a good collection of minerals form the “Eleven Acres of Diamonds.” The State Museum at Harrisburg once asked Mr. Barr’s assistance in obtaining samples of fluorescent metals for their collection. Interestingly enough, this is one kind of metal never unearthed at the Valley Forge farm.

Upon request from the Chester County Historical Society, Mr. Barr wrote his autobiography in 1940. Copies of this, along with those of others of his books, which have been privately printed, are in the libraries of several historical societies, as well as in a number of schools and community libraries.

Mr. Barr’s store of general knowledge, much of it self-taught, has earned him membership in almost 40 societies and organizations. Among these, in addition to the Chester County Historical Society, are the Delaware County Institute of Science, the Academy of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia, the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts, the National Audubon Society, the Pennsylvania State Horticultural Association and the Chester County Council, Boy Scouts of America. These and other on the long list show the diversity of Mr. Barr’s interests and activities.

Interesting as were the discovery of rocks and gems on the Valley Forge property, Mr. Barr’s real business, however, lay in the widely distributed sale of medicinal waters of various kinds throughout the general area. First discovered by him in 1914, they were developed by Mr. Barr under orders of the late Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, of the Pennsylvania State Board of Health. Among the many unusual stories told in connection with the work of excavation was that of an Indian work shop which was unearthed. The vast numbers of Indian relics which were found has led to the assumption that there was once a good-sized settlement not more than 50 feet from the main stream which flows through the property.

It seems quite possible that these Indians settled here because of their discovery of the medicinal quality of the various springs. According to tradition they had excellent health and lived to enjoy many long years of activity. The large museum which Mr. Barr built in his original plant contained many of the relics found thereabouts.

Mr. Barr brought with him on his last week’s visit a number of pictures of the Valley Forge property as it appeared when he owned it. As it was then too late to reproduce them for use with this weeks’ article, several will illustrate next weeks’ column, which will be the concluding one in this series.

When Morris Abner Barr came to Wayne from Royersford to visit your columnist he brought with him a number of pictures, three of which are reproduced in this week’s column. Others will appear next week.

Many old timers in this section recall Mr. Barr as he appears in the first picture, when he distributed his bottled waters throughout the Philadelphia suburban area.

To those among us who are accustomed only to the streamlined automobiles of the present, this picture has a very quaint look indeed. As a matter of fact, it was a bit “different” even at the time the picture was taken, since it was an old Autocar touring car converted into a truck. It must have been a sturdy affair, for Mr. Barr tells us that in the year 1917 alone, more than 11,000 gallons of alkaline mineral water from Valley Forge Mineral Springs were delivered from it.

The second picture shows the first cottage built by Mr. Barr in 1914 when, as an obscure Ardmore carpenter, he had $800 to spend on the project of erecting a simple little house near historic Valley Forge. According to an article published in 1917 in the ”The Daily Republican” of Phoenixville, “the careful construction and the natural mountainous beauty of the background of the little house tucked against a huge hill, quickly found for it a tenant. That first tenant was Frank Bean, now a resident of Norristown, whose name and that of his wife will go down in history of one of the greatest natural springs in the world”. For it was Mrs. Bean who first discovered the medicinal qualities of the water which gushed from a spring in the cellar of the new house the family was occupying.

In constructing the house it had been necessary for Mr. Barr to utilize this spring for the water supply, since his simple budget of $800 did not permit the piping of water all the way from Phoenixville. Two weeks after the Bean family had moved in, Mr. Barr came to finish some minor work on it.

“It was this casual, unheralded visit of Morris Barr”, according to the Daily Republican, “that was the beginning of the great business now operated at these unique springs”. For on this occasion Mrs. Bean told him of the improvement in her general health even in the short time the family had lived there. This improvement she attributed entirely to her use of the water from the spring. Her husband’s neuritis had also disappeared to a great extent.

Following that visit Mr. Barr began the steady use of the spring water in his own home in Ardmore. And when the neighbors heard of the remarkable water, “there was soon a steady stream of visitors to the Bean home to secure the “better than medicine water”.

As the demand for water increased, Mr. Barr took up the question of making a commercial venture of its distribution. But this proved a more serious business than the new owner had anticipated, with much red tape involved in inspections on the part of the State Department of Health. Again to quote “The Daily Republican”, Surveys of every inch of the Treasure Farm – chemical analysis of each spring on the Treasure Farm – covering a period of two years, were made under the direction of Dr. Samuel G. Dixon, of the State Board of Health of Pennsylvania. Photographs of the place were taken from every angle, inspected at Harrisburg, and kept on record there.”

After all this an extensive questionnaire had to be filled out by Mr. Barr. When this was done to the satisfaction of the State Department of Health, Mr. Barr was granted permission to build his plant, including a special vault at the cost of $4,500 and the installation of a bottle washing machine for an additional $1,250, figures which would doubtless be tripled in similar work done today.

The last picture shows the completed building, much as it looks today. Especially interesting is the entrance wall, which was the last construction work done on the property by Mr. Barr himself. The story of the designing of this wall by Mr. Barr, and the stones that went into it, will be told in next week’s column.

The entrance wall at “Valley Forge Springs”, shown in the picture with last weeks’ column, looks just as it did some 20 years ago, after Morris Abner Barr had completed it. To those who have been following the extraordinary story of this “Treasure Farm” during the past few weeks, it might be interesting to drive along the road that leads west from Valley Forge to Phoenixville on some of the pleasant summer days ahead.

Just past the small Valley Forge Post Office building, a road turns off to the left from the main road to Phoenixville. The entrance to the Springs comes into view almost immediately. Here Frank Caughrey, Mr. Barr’s successor, still maintains the bottling works, although the main office of this still large and prosperous business is now in Norristown.

For more than ten years before he actually began work on his entrance wall, Mr. Barr collected stones from his property with which to build it. The design was entirely Mr. Barr’s own, while the work was done with the help of only one laborer, who supplied the mortar and assisted with the setting of the stones.

It was not an easy job, as many of the stones were large heavy ones. Besides, Mr. Barr could not work on the construction of the wall continuously, but rather “built a little each day between loading water.”

Many watched the progress of its building, and many more came to admire it after it was completed. Among the latter was an expert Italian stone mason who specialized in this type of work. He offered Mr. Barr a steady position “to do nothing but build family entrance walls” – an offer that the latter could not accept.

The first picture illustrating today’s column shows Mr. Barr hunting gems in the spot he had named “Shady Nook.” His great spirit of hospitality prompted him to put up long picnic tables and benches in this general vicinity for the hordes of visitors who assembled here after the story of his finds found its way into print.

A number of pictures in Mr. Barr’s present collection show interested groups standing by a line-up of now out-dated automobiles, or seated at picnic tables in the vicinity. References have already been made in these articles to the great variety of precious and semi-precious stones found on the premises, especially in this “Shady Nook” vicinity. A new listing, which your columnist had not seen before, enumerates some 26 different specimens.

The second picture in today’s article shows parts of the interior of the much enlarged first small cottage built by Mr. Barr. The fireplace is more of his handiwork, the stones being found while he was excavating for the original cottage. It is in the center of one of the outside walls of a very large room, which has been used for various assembly purposes, including a meeting place for a nearby Scout Troop.

Mr. Barr is shown as he stands before the fireplace, which is flanked by cabinets on either side. These hold specimens of rocks and jewels found on the land as well as various Indian relics unearthed in excavating. The present owner of the property was very hospitable in showing Miss Helen Lienhardt and your columnist this interesting room on the day we visited “Treasure Farm.”

The third picture in today’s collection shows Mr. Barr seated at his desk, with the typewriter so necessary to carry on the voluminous correspondence which became his as soon as the news of his discoveries of mineral water, rocks and precious stones became known. Spread out at his left are a number of pieces of jewelery sent from a manufacturer for Mr. Barr’s approval. Included in the lot are rings, pins and necklaces, set with some of the precious and semi-precious stones found in the “Treasure Farm.”

(To be Continued)