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PRESERVED BY The National Society

of The Colonial Dames of America in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania

since 1899

A Visitor’s Guide to the Site, History, and Collections

STENTONSTENTONSTENTON

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Opposite page: A vaulted cold and beverage cellar below supports the herringbone brick paving in the Stenton Entry. The entry is Stenton’s public reception space with double doors controlling all movement in and out of the room. The only truly arched doors frame a view of the double-wide stair. The pendant drops with carved hearts may be a quiet allusion to the Logan family coat of arms and is a common decorative motif that appears on Philadelphia case furni-ture of the c.1730-1750 period. Entry photo by Geoffrey Gross. Pendant drop detail by Will Brown.

Above: Stenton Ground Floor Plan, adapted from Historic American Buildings Survey, Library of Congress.

Ground Floor Plan

Back Dining RoomFirst Floor

Lodging Room

Offi ce

Entry

Parlor

1693 James Logan replaced his father as Master of Friar Meetinghouse School in Bristol, England

ENTRYThe brick-paved hall functioned variously as a waiting room, a gathering room, and a storage room for tables and chairs that might be moved to adjacent par-lors as visiting company warranted. A vaulted cellar below supports the herring-bone brick paving. The Entry is Stenton’s most public space with double doors controlling all movement in and out of the room. A pair of arched doors frames a view of the double-wide staircase.

Logan Family Coat of Arms probably drawn by Deborah Norris Logan, c.1815, pasted inside the cover of her Re-cords of the Logan and Norris Families Commonplace Book. Courtesy of the Pennsylvania State Archives, Harrisburg; Manuscript Group 247, Algernon Sydney Logan and Robert Restalrig Logan Papers.

1699 James Logan traveled to Pennsylvania with William Penn to serve as Secretary of the Province

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Above: This slip-decorated redware bowl or pan excavated in 1982 represents Stenton’s only artifact associated with Native Americans. Likely Philadelphia made, the bowl depicts Sa Ga Qua Pieth Tow, an Iroquois Mohawk, one of four “Indian Kings” who traveled to London to pledge allegiance to Queen Anne in 1710. As a provincial councilor, James Logan likely owned a set of prints issued of the Four Indian Kings based on paintings by Verelst. Perhaps the pan played a ceremonial role in Logan’s meetings with Natives at Stenton in 1738 and 1742 prior to Treaty negotiations in Philadelphia. Bowl photo by Gavin Ashworth; print courtesy of Winterthur Museum.

Left: The folding screen door, the simple panelled fi replace wall, and light-hole shutters defi ne James Logan’s offi ce.

OFFICEThis smaller front room is less fi nely fi nished than the front parlor, with plas-ter walls above the chair rail, simple raised paneling on the fi replace wall, and surface nails in the fl oor. Called the offi ce since the late 1960s, this space is the least well documented, as it represents a room missing from the Logan invento-ries. The Logans furnished secondary rooms with older imported English cane chairs, while the leather bottom chairs in the hall and entry were the most fash-ionable Queen Anne form. The pair of 18th-century globes represents those known to have been owned by Logan, highlighting his scientifi c interests. Note the light holes in the shutters, which emitted enough light to prevent a servant stumbling into the room to open it in the morning. The extra cut at the middle of the left shutter is unique to this room and allowed for greater light control in this bright southeastern exposure.

England; “The Four Indian Kings” Iroquois traveled to England from Boston 1714 James Logan married Sarah Read

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Top: The Back Dining Room fi replace wall, c.1890 with horse-riding paraphernalia hung on nails.

Above left: English pewter platter engraved with the cipher ‘SL’ for Sarah Logan. In 1752, the Pewter Press in the Back Dining Room contained 60 pewter plates. The use of pewter indicated the lower status of the Back Dining Room compared to the “China” listed in the Parlour. The remarkable quantity of pewter tells us that Stenton was equipped to host large gatherings.

Above right: The fl at rather than raised paneling, the lack of cornice molding on three walls of the room, the grooved mantle shelf, and the proximity to the cellar bulkhead, the kitchen and the service stair (through the paired narrow doors), refl ect the work-a-day nature of the Back Dining Room. There is no evidence of a crane or trammel, either of which was required for heavy hearth cooking. This indicates that the fi replace was likely a warming hearth, with a curious grill inside the left cheek of the fi replace and mystery vents in the fl ue at the back.

BACK DINING ROOMThe furnishings in Stenton’s Back Dining Room refl ected the multi-purpose nature of the space, typical for rooms in this period: tables, chairs, desk, daybed or “couch,” pewter press, tea table, corner cupboard, and armchair. Servants and family mixed in this back realm of the house, which the Logans used for ev-eryday dining. James Logan might have relaxed on the couch while dictating to his clerk or plantation manager at the desk. House servants may have polished the brass candlesticks in preparation for evening hours, while Sarah Logan and the cook consulted on food stores and meal plans.

Stenton’s original kitchen stood beyond a shed or roofed open structure attached to the back door from this room. Heavy cooking would have been completed in the kitchen, with warming and serving preparations completed in the Back Dining Room.

The furnishings in the Back Dining Room closely follow the items listed on James Logan’s 1752 inventory. The door in the corner originally opened onto a shed or small porch where servants could sit on benches to be called into the house or kitchen beyond.

Logan family hanging corner cupboard, Philadelphia or region, c.1730. Gift of Mr. Charles Satterthwaite, Jr. and Dr. Arnold Satterthwaite

1714, 1717, & 1720 James Logan purchased land for his plantation 1720 James Logan purchased

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MAIN STAIR

Stenton’s primary stair is a luxurious devotion of space to circulation. Its broad width continues the public, double-wide thresholds of the entry. The low risers and deep treads ease the climb to the second fl oor. The notable symmetry of the square-headed doors at the second fl oor landing disguises a hierarchy. The true pair of doors to the right opens to the best chamber, the Yellow Lodging Room, while the left opening to the Blue Lodging Room is a single door paired with a false panel, making it a more private passage.

Above: The second fl oor landing, where the pair of doors at right aligns with the stair and continues the double-wide path of procession from the entry and front room on the ground fl oor.

Right: Looking down through the center of the staircase from the third fl oor landing.

Opposite page: The beautiful and grand staircase wraps along three wainscotted walls all the way to the third fl oor and led to the lost cupola used as an observatory. Photo by Geoffrey Gross.

Mingoe, Diana and Ben 1722-1723 James Logan served as Mayor of Philadelphia

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Above: Beds with their accompanying “furniture” or textile hangings were status objects in the 18th-century. All the chambers on the second fl oor at Stenton feature hooks in the ceilings for supporting the tester or frame to which bed curtains were attached. The bed chambers were all named for the colors of their texile hangings. Photo by Laura Keim.

Left: Commode or Necessary Chair, Philadelphia, c.1740-60. Such a comfortable arm chair fi tted with a chamber pot in the seat concealed behind the deeply scalloped apron was a comfort in the night. Gift of Deborah Paul and Sally Smith in memory of Christopher Greene Lutman. Photo by Will Brown.

Right: The original blue-and-white Delft Biblical tiles surrounding the fi replace in the Yellow Lodging Room are laid closely with little mortar between them. This tile depicts the story of Christ on the Road to Emmaus and comes from the Biblical book of Luke, verses 13-27. Photo by Jeff Story.

1730 Stenton built; Logan, his wife and four children, Sarah, William, Hannah and James, moved to Stenton

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BLUE LODGING ROOMUntil 1751, Stenton’s Blue Lodging Room chiefl y housed James Logan’s nearly 3000-volume library and served as a second-best bedchamber. As presented to-day, the assembly of furniture represents life for the third generation of the fam-ily. James Logan’s grandson, Dr. George Logan (1753-1821), and his wife Debo-rah Norris Logan (1761-1839) resided at Stenton after their 1781 marriage. The couple lived with a combination of newer Chippendale-style furniture and in-herited pieces such as a high chest and stools of the 1750s. In Deborah Logan’s

Above: Franklin Stove installed in Offi ce by George and Deborah Logan. Photo by Will Brown.

Left: The blue “furniture check” double festoon curtains are reproductions of original linen and cotton indigo-dyed panels that survive in Sten-ton’s collection. The diary of an 18th-century Polish visitor reported that the Logans hung these curtains in their parlour. The detail of an original panel at left shows the tiny gathers at the tops which created fullness in the drapery. Photo by Carol Spacht.