A Home for Patriots… and Tories… / Park Guards and Household Gear

A Home for Patriots… and Tories…, also, Park Guards and Household Gear. Woodford. , A Home for Patriots… and Tories , 1756 ,

"[He] had the coolest, clearest head, the best heart, and the exactest morals of almost any man I ever met with …Our friendship continued without interruption to his death, upwards of forty years." , Benjamin Franklin describing his friend William Coleman

, In 1756 Judge William Coleman purchased 12-acres of land here and erected this elegant summer house, stable and servant's quarters. Coleman, a trusted confidant to Benjamin Franklin, was a highly educated, successful merchant and Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He helped found many of the city's most influential institutions including the University of Pennsylvania and the American Philosophical Society. Coleman and his wife Hannah raised their orphaned nephew George Clymer, an important founding father of the United States., The next phase of Woodford's history tells the story of both Patriots and Tories during the American Revolution. After Coleman's death in 1769, Alexander Barclay, a loyalist who worked for the King, purchased the house. He soon sold it to his brother-in-law David Franks. A merchant and one of the wealthiest men in Philadelphia, Franks supplied good and services to the British. In 1778 the state arrested him for treason. Franks later sold the house to Thomas Paschall to pay a debt. Isaac Wharton subsequently acquired Woodford, which served as his family's summer retreat for the next 75 years., [Captions:] , George Clymer was one of only five signers of both the Declaration of Independence and the U.S. Constitution., In 1771, Woodford was purchased by David Franks, an agent of the British Crown. The family was ordered to leave in 1778 after Franks was arrested for treason. They eventually relocated to England where they went from great wealth and power to abject poverty., Franks expanded Woodford to accommodate his four children and his lavish entertaining. No early image of the house exists but historians believe it looked similar to this image of the Pemberton House that stood from 1750-1829 in Grays Ferry., The kitchen wing was added circa 1790 to the rear of the building which was a two story structure. Woodford remained in the Wharton family until it was purchased by the City of Philadelphia in 1868., Park Guards and Household Gear , 1868 , The City of Philadelphia purchased Woodford from the Wharton heirs in 1868 for inclusion in Fairmount Park. The house served as a residence for the park's Chief Engineer. Later, it was the headquarters of the Fairmount Park Guard. In 1927 the Naomi Wood Trust leased the house and restored it. Naomi Wood, a renowned Philadelphia decorative arts collector, directed her collection to be installed "as an illustration of household gear during Colonial years" for the public's enjoyment. The Naomi Wood Trust operates and maintains Woodford, which is furnished with an extraordinary collection of colonial antiques., [Captions:] , Naomi Wood photographed as a young woman. Date unknown., "Scorchers," or speeders were apprehended by the Park Police on bicycles, and paid their fines in Woodford's parlor., An excerpt about antiques from Naomi Wood's notebook., The parlor's elaborately carved fireplace was part of Judge Coleman's formal 1756 Georgian design., This English Delft plate is from about 1750 and features a boy and bird. This tin-glazed pottery is called Delftware because it originated with potters in Delft, The Netherlands. Often blue and white, this antique pottery was also made in other colors., Between 1896 and 1945, the Fairmount Park Trolley transported pleasure seekers through Fairmount Park to an amusement park named Woodside Park built just to the edge of West Park by the trolley company. This map shows how close the trolley bridge and tracks were to the house!