Historic Quaker Houses of Philadelphia
The Deshler-Morris House
(The Germantown White House)
Built ca. 1772
Above: The Deshler-Morris House, built 1772 to 1774 by German Quaker David Deshler. Image source: National Park Service.
The Quaker history of the Deshler-Morris House (Germantown White House) began with its builder, David Deshler, a German immigrant who arrived in Philadelphia in 1733. He joined the Quakers after his marriage to Mary LeFevre. He initially constructed the house as a four-room dwelling in 1752, before expanding it with a three-story Georgian front section between 1772 and 1774.
German Quaker David Deshler
Builder of the Deshler-Morris House:
Above: A silhouette of David Deshler who built the house. Image source: National Park Service.
During the Revolutionary War, David Deshler adhered to his traditional Quaker peace testimony. He did not take an active military role in the Revolution. However, during the war British General Howe commandeered the house as his headquarters. Following Deshler's death in 1792, the property experienced a brief non-Quaker history known as its "Germantown White House" period, during which it was sold to Colonel Isaac Franks and subsequently leased to President George Washington in 1793 and 1794 as a summer home.
David Deshler’s House
Two Blocks Away from his Uncle’s House:
Above: German-born merchant John Wister built Grumblethorpe, his Germantown country house, in 1744. His nephew David Deshler later built the Deshler-Morris House only two blocks away, strengthening the family’s presence along Germantown Avenue. Image source: Lee J. Stoltzfus.
The Deshler-Morris estate returned to Quaker ownership for over a century when it was purchased by merchants Elliston and John Perot. The property was acquired in 1834 by Elliston’s son-in-law, Samuel Buckley Morris. Samuel was part of a prominent Philadelphia Quaker family descended from Anthony Morris, who arrived in America by 1683. Samuel was a central pillar of the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting.
Quaker businessman Elliston Perot Morris and his son, photographer Marriott Canby Morris, both grew up in this house. They attended Westtown and Haverford, and remained active in regional Quaker causes. In the 1940s, the Morris family donated the homestead to the National Park Service.
Quaker Photographer Marriott C. Morris
Photographs of his Family Home
The Deshler-Morris House:
Image source: Library Company of Philadelphia.
Philadelphia photographer Marriott Canby Morris (1863 - 1948) followed a path familiar among Philadelphia Quaker families. He was educated at Westtown Boarding School and Haverford College. At Haverford, he developed interests in photography and cycling, pursuits that remained important to him throughout his life. He married Jane Gibbons Rhoads in 1897.
Marriott Morris’ photography is preserved as The Morris Collection at The Library Company of Philadelphia, including more than 2,500 items.
Photos of the Deshler-Morris House
And the Morris Family
By Marriott C. Morris:
Above: A lantern slide of the Deshler-Morris House, ca. 1890 - 1900 by Marriott Canby Morris. Image source: The Library Company of Philadelphia.
Above: An 1889 photograph of the Morris family on the back porch of the Deshler-Morris House. Image source: Library Company of Philadelphia.
This photograph shows the photographer’s relatives, including his father Elliston P. Morris, his aunt Beulah Sansom Rhoads, uncle Charles Rhoads, sister Elizabeth Canby Morris, cousin Hannah Perot Morris, mother Martha Canby Morris, aunt Lydia Spencer Morris, and cousin George Spencer Morris.
Above: Marriott C. Morris’ parents posed for this portrait at the Deshler-Morris House in 1906. The father, Elliston Perot Morris, married Martha Canby in 1863. The couple raised their children here at the Deshler-Morris House. The family was actively involved with the Quaker community in Germantown.
Above: A photograph of the Deshler-Morris House, ca. 1890 - 1900 by Marriott Canby Morris. Image source: The Library Company of Philadelphia.
Morris Cousins at the Deshler-Morris House:
Marriott C. Morris photographed his sister, Elizabeth Canby Morris, and their cousins in 1887. They are: Anna Stokes Morris, John Stokes Morris, Elizabeth Wistar, Elizabeth Stokes Morris, Anabelle Wistar, Edith Wistar, and Joshua Morris Wistar. Image source: The Library Company of Philadelphia.
The Backyard Garden:
Above: In this 1889 photograph, the photographer’s mother, Martha Canby Morris, sits under an elm tree in the backyard garden of the Deshler-Morris House. Image source: The Library Company of Philadelphia.
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