3514 Spring Garden Street
The
Building
“Circa
1920, three-story apartment building, brown iron pyrate
brick. Courtyard between two main blocks, arched. doorways to backyard. Brick
stretcher lintels, header sills, all windows replaced
and aluminum frames added. Red pantile roof. Questionable integrity”
(Inventory of
Buildings in Powelton from the application submitted to the National Register of Historic
Places, 1985)
Previous Residents
1870:
Samuel P. Ferree 34 Retired
merchant; real estate: $30,000; personal: $100,000
Annie A. Ferree 27
James B. Ferree 7
William A. Ferree 6
Annie D. Ferree 3
Maggie Grady 26 Domestic
servant; born in Ireland
Alice Mather 20 Domestic
servant; born in Ireland
Harriett Davis 12
Julia Heffner 31 Dress
maker; born in Md.
In
1860, Samuel Patterson Ferree lived with his parents in Ward 7. In 1870, his
parents lived at 3404 Spring Garden St.
“SAMUEL PATTERSON FERREE
“Samuel Patterson Ferree was born in
Mount Joy, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, August 9, 1835. He was the son of
James Barr and Mary Ann Patterson Ferree and was the descendant of a French
Huguenot family that settled in Lancaster County in 1712 under a direct grant
from William Penn.
“Mr. Ferree began his business
career as a professor in Crittenden's Commercial College, severing that
connection to become associated with his father as junior member of the banking
house of Ferree & Co. Subsequently the firm organized the National Bank of
the Republic. In 1879 he founded the Mutual Library in Philadelphia, presenting
it to the Board of Education of the city in 1902, thus forming the first free
library of Philadelphia. In 1883 he purchased the business of republishing the
great English monthly and quarterly reviews, which he conducted under the
business title of the Leonard Scott Publication Co….
“In 1885 he acquired exclusive
control of the advertising privileges of the Philadelphia Traction Co. and
other lines of cars in Philadelphia, and turned his attention to street-car
advertising under the firm title of The Street Railway Advertising Co. This
business under his able management was brought to an unequalled standard of
excellence. In 1890 he removed to New York, and greatly extended this business
by obtaining control of the advertising of the leading street railway lines in
New York, Brooklyn, Jersey City, Hoboken and many
cities in Pennsylvania….
“Mr. Ferree married Miss Annie
Appleton Drown on February 19, 1862…. He retired from active business a few
years ago, and died at his home in Rosemont, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania,
on April 2, 1911….”
(Yearbook of the Pennsylvania Society of New
York. Editor, Barr Ferree. 1912. Pp 75-76.)
1880:
Samuel P. Ferree 44 Books &
Co.
Annie A. Ferree 37 Parents
born in N.H.
James B. Ferree 17
William A. Ferree 16 Printer
Annie D. Ferree 13
Anne P. Drown 59 Mother-in-law; born in N.H.
B. McAndrew 18 Servant;
born in Ireland
In
1900, they lived at 822 Pine St. Samuel listed his occupation as treasurer.
1881 Directory: Samuel P. Ferree, Ferree &
Co.
1889 Directory: James B. Ferree, manager, 501
Chestnut, h 3514 Spring Garden
Samuel
P. Ferree, treasurer, 501 & 1314 Chestnut, h 3514 Spring Garden
From
about 1889-1899, they lived in New York. Annie and Samuel returned to Philadelphia
and in 1900 were living at 822 Pine St. In 1910, they were living in Lower
Merion. Their daughter, Annie, remained single and lived with them.
James
stayed in New York. He dropped his first name and went by his middle name, Barr.
He founded the Pennsylvania Society of New York. It continues to host an annual
meeting of Pennsylvania politicians and businessmen in New York every year.
“FERREE, James Barr, [son of Samuel
P.] American architect and art critic: b. Philadelphia, Pa. He was graduated
from the University of Pennsylvania 1884. He was the president of the
department of architecture in the Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences; is a
member of several American and foreign architectural societies,
and has written many professional papers for leading architectural and
other periodicals. From 1902 08 he edited 'American Homes and Gardens.' He has
published 'Pennsylvania: A Primer' (New York 1904); 'American Estates and
Gardens' (New York 1906) ; 'The Bombardment of Reims'
(New York 1917). He also edited 'The United States and the War;
Addresses by J. M. Beck, etc.' (New York 1916).”
The Encyclopedia Americana: a library of
universal knowledge. 1919.)
Barr Ferree, “Architectural
historian and connoisseur. Establish Foundation for book publishing. Ferree
graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1884 and lectured there on
architectural subjects in the recently founded School of Architecture. Although
subsequently entering the world of business, he continued to lecture, achieving
the presidency of the Department of Architecture and Fine Arts at the Brooklyn
Institute of Arts and Sciences. He was also the first American to be elected to
honorary membership of the Royal Institute of British Architects. Ferree
published an influential catalog of French cathedrals which he compiled through
a vast personal library (now the Barr Ferree Library of Princeton). His efforts
to save French architecture from destruction during World War I won him the
Legion of Honor in 1922. When he died unexpectedly in 1924, his estate became
the core of the Barr Ferree Foundation, dedicated to publication of books on
architecture and the related fine arts. E. Baldwin Smith (q.v.) dedicated his
work, The Dome (1950) to Ferree's memory…. "
(Introduction
to The Dome: A Study in the History of Ideas. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1950, p. v.)
1900:
Catherine
Murta 64 Widowed with 5 children; born in
Ireland, immigrated 75 years ago; owner, with a mortgage
Anna
Murta 37
John
P. Murta 36 Hardware dealer
Ellen
Murta 33 School teacher
Francis
F. Pollock 43 Sister; born in N.Y., parents born in Ireland;
Ladies and children’s suits
Bridget
Mcnamee 23 Servant; born in Ireland, immigrated in
1895
In 1910, they lived at 3508 Hamilton St. (see
details there)
< 3512 Spring Garden 3518
Spring Garden >
Revised
6/22/2022