Historic Quaker Houses of Philadelphia

Stenton
4601 N. 18th Street
Built ca.1730 by James Logan

 Irish Quaker Immigrant James Logan
One of the Most Prominent Men of Colonial Pennsylvania:

 James Logan acquired great wealth as a fur trader and transatlantic merchant. He held many of the highest political and judicial offices of the Pennsylvania including:
1. Secretary and chief administrator to William Penn
2. President of the Provincial Council
3. Mayor of Philadelphia
4. Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
5. Acting Governor of Pennsylvania

The Logan High Chest and Dressing Table
In their Original Yellow Lodging Room at Stenton:

 Above: The ca. 1738 high chest and dressing table are included in Logan’s 1752 inventory. They are listed as “Maple Chest of Drawers & Table”. The inventory lists these case pieces in the yellow lodging room where they stand today. Cutouts in the room’s woodwork reveal the original location of the high chest, where it continues to stand on display.

Georgian Architecture Pattern Books
in Colonial Philadelphia:

Architecture pattern books such as Vitruvius Britannicus (1715 - 1725) introduced Georgian architecture to 18th-century Philadelphia. The city and surrounding area showcase many Georgian buildings whose designs were shaped by these influential British publication.
The front elevation of Logan’s Stenton is like a plain Quaker version of Daniel Campell’s Shawfield Mansion in Glasgow. Logan chose simple brick pilasters to add vertical elements to his house facade, while Daniel Campbell chose ornate stone quoins for his vertical accents.
Stenton originally had a balustraded gallery at the peak of the roof, similar to the Campell house. James Logan named his Philadelphia estate “Stenton” after the village in East Lothian, Scotland, where his father was born.

 An Irish Counterpart to Stenton
The 1667 Waringstown House in Northern Ireland:

 Historical Marker for James Logan’s Birthplace
in Lurgan, Northern Ireland
With a Stenton Architectural Counterpart Nearby: Waringstown House:

  Stenton’s distinctive facade (ca. 1730) shares features with the 1667 Waringstown House, located less than 4.8 kilometers (three miles) from Logan’s hometown of Lurgen, Northern Ireland. Similar details include six bays of windows flanked by pilasters (Stenton) or quoins (Waringstown House), and a central entry flanked by narrow sidelights which are flanked by pilasters. Stenton originally had a hood or similar protection over the entry, a counterpart to Waringstown House’s entry pediment.

 Stenton Floorplan and Sections
Historic American Buildings Survey:

 James Logan, Renaissance Man:
Scientist, Scholar, Botanist, and Patron of Learning:

Above left Logania albiflora, Above center: Botanical illustration of three Logania species in Die natürlichen Pflanzenfamilien, Engler, 1892, Above right: Logania campanulata. Image source: Wikimedia: John Tann and Kevin Thiele.
In 1810, the Scottish botanist Robert Brown named the plant genus Logania in honor of James Logan. Brown, widely regarded as one of the most influential naturalists of the 19th century, included the new genus in his groundbreaking botanical work Prodromus Florae Novae Hollandiae, which documented the flora of Australia. Although Logan never visited Australia, Brown recognized Logan’s early experiments on plant reproduction, especially his work on maize as significant contributions to botany.

 James Logan
One of the Most Learned Men in Colonial Pennsylvania:

1. Linguist, Scholar, and Bibliophile
Logan was fluent in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew, and deeply read in philosophy, mathematics, botany, and astronomy. His personal library was the largest in the colonies.
2. Member of the Royal Society
This was a major recognition of his scientific reputation in England and abroad.
3. Correspondent of Leading Scientists
Logan corresponded with Isaac Newton, Carl Linnaeus, and other top thinkers. He shared botanical observations and discussed scientific theory, especially in mathematics and physics.
4. Discoveries in Plant Biology
Logan conducted experiments on plant reproduction. In 1739, he published a paper on the fertilization of maize concluding that pollen was necessary for seed production. Linnaeus cited this work approvingly.
5. Translator and Publisher of Classical Texts
He translated and published Cicero’s Cato Major in 1744. This is the first classical work printed in America in its original Latin.

 “ …Logan had gathered over 2,600 volumes, chiefly in Latin and Greek, constituting the best collection of books in colonial America.” Quote: “At the Instance of Benjamin Franklin,” The Library Company of Philadelphia, 2015.

  James Logan left his books for the use of the public, following by the example of Oxford University’s Bodleian Library. He designed a building on Sixth Street, Philadelphia, to house the library, and endowed the institution in his will. The Loganian Library was created in 1754 as a trust for the public. Ben Franklin was one of the trustees. In 1792 the library was transferred to the Library Company, where it remains today.

 The Loganian Library

 Philadelphia’s Logan Circle
Named for James Logan:

Above: This 1925 lithography is an artist’s conceptual rendering of the Ben Franklin Parkway. The view leads from the Philadelphia Museum of Art toward City Hall. A fountain in Logan Circle sprays a column of water in front of the Free Library.
Logan Circle is also known as Logan Square. It originally was the Northwest Square in William Penn's plan for the city. In 1825 city officials renamed the square to honor James Logan.

 Links:

Stenton.org
 National Register of Historic Places
Philadelphia Architects and Buildings
Society of Architecture Historians Archipedia
“Philadelphia’s First Scientist: James Logan”