Our Sunday, In Pictures

Saturday night we had a large dinner party. 24 guests. Lots of food. The dogs, therefore, got to eat grit casserole, bbq, and potatoes in bacon fat.

This tuckered two of them out. Judah and Nibbler were positively bushed.

Edgar? Not so much. While he wasn't sure about the new fire pit, he certainly basked in its warmth when he wasn't tearing around the yard or playing with inanimate objects.

Plants I'd like to Plant

A list, in no particular order, of plants I'd like to work into my kinda bare back yard, as soon as I have some free time:

• Viburnum "Mohawk."  These smell really heavenly right now.
  
• Viburnum "Dawn." Likewise.
  
• Helleborus foetidus.
  
• Helleborus nigrens.
  
• Helleborus whateverus.  I just love them.  All of them.
  
• Blue Flag Iris.
  
• Hammalacidae, Forthergilla Major or "Mount Airy"
  
• Lilacs?
  
• echinacea purpurea.
• Oak Leaf hydrangeas.  And maybe a Lady in Red, if I can get beyond all the time and effort I put into the last Scarlet Strumpet that cursed/graced my garden.
  
• Hostas -- sum & substance, blue angel.
  
• Trillium.
• Stachys.
• Ghost ferns or painted lady ferns.
• epimedium.
• dicentra.
• Hens & chicks.
• wood poppy.
• Some native azaleas, maybe a rhododendron or two.
• forsythia

Really, this is just a list of my favorite botanical things.  But I have excluded those that won't grow this far north, such as my beloved tea olives.

The Wolf Family, 1850 to 1886

Theresa and William Wolf owned the house from 1850 to 1886, though records indicate that they didn't always live in it.



The Wolf family is one of those that shaped the history of Bellefonte, both through their work and their legacy. William S. Wolf may have been born in Bellefonte, but he is now buried in the Union cemetery and worked as a tinsmith in the borough for 30 or 40 years. His life appears ordinary, but well-documented, and indicates a man who was a very active citizen. In addition to his work as a tinsmith, newspapers of the time note his involvement on juries and committees, as well as his pitching in during a fire to attempt to save the Brockerhoff Hotel.



The census indicates a long progression of tenants, which are instructive even as statistics.

The 1870 census notes the following residents:

• France/is Boal, a 48 year-old woman, was the head of the household. Her occupation is listed as “Bonnet Manufacturer.”



• George O. Boal, 17



• Nellie W. Boal, 13



• Lucy Burnside, 10, “At Home”



• Ann Owens, a 20 year-old domestic servant from Wales
  

Lucy Burnside and Frances Boal were sisters, and the daughters of Judge Thomas Burnside. Thomas Burnside, born in Ireland, had many accomplishments:

In 1811 he was elected to the State Senate, and was an active supporter of Governor Simon Snyder in all the war measures of 1812. In 1815 he was elected to
Congress, and served during the memorable session of 1816. In the summer of the
same year he was appointed by Governor Snyder president judge of the Luzerne
district. He resigned this position in 1818, and resumed practice at Bellefonte.
In 1823 he was again elected to the State Senate, of which body he was chosen
Speaker. In 1826, before his senatorial term had expired, he was appointed
president judge of the Fourth Judicial District (Centre, etc.), which office he
held until 1841, when he was appointed president judge of the Seventh Judicial
District (Bucks and Montgomery). On the 1st of January, 1845, he was
commissioned as one of the justices of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, an
office which he filled with honor up to the time of his death.By his second
wife, Ellen Winters, he also had children, now residing in Bellefonte,-Miss Lucy
Burnside, Thomas Burnside, and Mrs. Frances Boal. Mrs. Ellen W. Burnside died in
Bellefonte, June 3, 1859, aged seventy-three years, eight months, and seventeen
days. Source: History of Centre and Clinton Counties, Pennsylvania; John
Blair Linn; Philadelphia; Louis H. Everts; 1883

The 1860 federal census notes the following as occupants:

• Daniel Welsh, a 44 year-old contractor, was the head of the household. Welsh may have emigrated from Ireland -- an investigation into susipisious voting practices in which his son was questioned included testimony that he and Jane became citizens.



• His wife, Jane E., was 30



• William G. Welsh, a Justice of the Peace, was 73



• Jane M. Harris was 27



• Eliza L. Welsh, 23



• Louisa Welsh, 20



• Catherine Gofney, 21, is a servant, from “Konemara, Ireland” (Connemara) – probably actually Catherine Gaffney Meagher, who died in 1918 in Michigan.



• Franklin Johnson is a 16 year-old African-american.

The 1850 federal census indicates the following as occupants:

• Felix Mullin, a 45-year old male, whose occupation was listed as “Manager” and who was born in Ireland.



• Eliza Mullin, a 44 year-old female, also born in Ireland.



• John Mullin, an 18 year-old male who is listed as a student of medicine.



• Frances Mullin, an 11 year-old female.



• Margaret McGlarity, an 19 year-old female.

Window Inserts, the Good vs. the Perfect, and Other Big Issues in Small Increments

We live in an old house -- I know, brilliant observation.  

However, when you're a historic preservationist who lives in an old house, you have a lot of concerns about old stuff and yet you want to preserve as much of it as possible.  Also, there's only so much time and money in the day and in your life.  So you find yourself, as I do, thinking about improving things without changing them too much.  Also, there's the planet, and when we can we think about it, too.

Whoever lived here before us used the lack of sight lines to the back of the house to thwart the historic review board and replace everything they could afford to replace.  So we now have about 1/3rd new vinyl windows, 1/3rd old windows with old aluminum storm windows, and 1/3rd just plain old windows.  So, should we replace the remaining windows, or should we just bolster them?

I see a lot of literature about how you should replace your windows for energy efficiency, and the old ones are only single-paned.  However, I'm skeptical.

1. I saw the excellent film Blue Vinyl, and in general I'm aware that it's not a good idea to get cruddy vinyl very close to your home/life/things you value. 
   
2. A lot of energy and effort and resources are embodied in historic building materials. So it's in fact pretty green to keep them, when you can.  
3. I also see a lot of literature about the value of adding insulation to windows and how that compares, performancewise, to simply replacing them. The gist is that while adding isn't as effective as replacing, it's very effective relative to cost and the other factors above. 

All things considered, I've decided to add interior storm windows rather than remove and replace our gorgeous old windows.  (Seriously, look at these.  Gorgeous.)

The three most popular options are Window Inserts, Innerglass, and ClimateSeal products.  These range in price, interaction with professional types, and so on.  But, you know, anything's better than what we have.  Also, I'm not convinced that there's a huge difference between the $80 windows and the $380 windows -- but I am aware that the $380 windows take longer to order and get.  

So, the perfect being the enemy of the good, I'm ordering the inserts.  I will keep you posted as they come in. 

The Measurer

The Measurer
Originally uploaded by Athens Nikita

Chris is off napping already, and it's barely 9 o'clock. But a long day of work followed by a long few hours of measuring and sanding will do that to a guy.

What's that, you say? We've been measuring and sanding?

We have indeed. In fact, despite our plans to take it easy over the winter we have to press on a little longer.

Two of the projects we've been involved with are painting/patching/sanding our hallway and ordering interior storm windows for all of the old windows that don't already have exterior storm windows. On an old house like this one, that's quite a job -- it involves measuring the windows at three points for each dimension, as well as ordering preliminary windows and then actual windows. How will it go? We'll let you know.