Historic Quaker Houses of Philadelphia
Vernon: The Wister House
In Vernon Park, Germantown
Built in 1805
Above: The Wister house was built in 1805 by James Matthews. John Wister purchased the house in1812. He was a wealthy dry goods merchant in Philadelphia. A statue of John Wister stands to the right of the entrance. It was erected by his grandson, Jones Wister. The City of Philadelphia purchased the house in 1892.
The house eventually was home to the Germantown Branch of the Free Library, and later was home to the Site and Relic Society (Germantown Historical Society).
1904:
A Grandson Memorialized his Quaker Grandfather
With a Statue here at the Family Home
The members of this family were descendants of Johannes Caspar Wister and his wife Anna Katherine Wüster of Hillspach (near Heidelburg), Germany. Two of their sons came to America: John (1708-1789) and Caspar Wister (1696-1752), the owner of a glasshouse in New Jersey. John’s grandson John (1776-1862).
His statue is garbed as a plain Friend, a dark brown shad-belly coat and vest, with light drab-colored pantaloons. Low shoes with silver buckles and a light grayish drab color beaver hat — the latter an object of pride with many Quakers of that period.
in his book of Reminiscences is that it commemorates the name of Diana Vernon, heroine of Sir Walter Scott's "Rob Roy",
He belonged to the Orthodox Friends' Society and attended meeting with great regularity every First and Fifth day,
wealthy merchant, and financier who had been a partner with his uncle William Wister.
Best: John Wister (1776-1862), son of Daniel Wister, was a merchant in Philadelphia. He acquired the house "Vernon" in Germantown in 1805. John Wister raised his family at Vernon and died in 1862. The mansion was bought by the City of Philadelphia in 1895,
Buried at Germantown Meeting Cemetery
Wister, John
He belonged to the Orthodox Friends' Society and attended meeting with great regularity every First and Fifth day,
As the family estate had been bought by the City of Philadelphia, to be used forever as one of its parks, and the mansion occupied as a museum by the Site and Relic Society of Germantown, I knew that the statue would be a welcome addition to their collection.
Jones Wister: 1839 - 1917
1776-1862. Son of Lowry and Daniel Wister;
John Wister's son William Wister married Sarah Logan Fisher. The two would raise six children at the "Belfield Estate." Their son John Wister, (1829-1900) would come to use "Vernon" as a summer home during his lifetime.
The Wister sculpture depicts John Wister, a member of the United States Congress who lived the Vernon House until his death in 1883 (1862). Designed by Italian artist Rafaello Romanelli in 1903, the hollow, cast bronze statue sits on a granite pedestal in front of Vernon House. Husband of Elizabeth (Harvey) Wister — married 15 Jan 1799 in Philadelphia Monthly Meeting, Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States at age 22
John Wister’s grandson, Jones Wister, paid permanent tribute to his Quaker grandfather with this bronze statue which now stands in from of the Wister family home. The inscription in the base reads, “John Wister 1776 - 1862 [birth and death dates] Erected 1904 Grateful Remembrance by his Grandson Jones Wister.”
Two Houses - Two Generations of Wisters
From Quaker Vernacular to Federal Style:
1934: Measured Drawings of the House
Historic American Buildings Survey:
Above: Image source: Historic American Buildings Survey, Raymond Hillman, 1934, Library of Congress.
1934: An Ornate Federal-Style Mantle
Historic American Building Survey:
Above: Image source: Historic American Buildings Survey, William Angus Thom, 1934, Library of Congress.
Another Statue Here in the Park
Quaker & Mennonite Immigrants of 1683
Founders of Germantown:
The Pastorius Monument was completed in 1917 by Albert Jaegers (1868-1925) and commemorates Franz Pastorious and the 13 German families who founded Germantown on October 6, 1683. However, the limestone monument wasn’t displayed to the public until after World War I in 1920, due to anti-German sentiment that pervaded the country after the war.
The First Settlers of Germantown
Mostly German and Dutch Quakers
Who Previously were Mennonites:
In commemoration of the landing of the German colonists October 6, 1683 Franz Daniel Pastorius, Dirk Herman, Abraham op Den Graeff, Tuenes Kunders, Lenert Arens, Reinert Tisen, Wilhelm Strepers, Jan Lensen, Peter Keurlis, Jan Siemens, Johann Bleikers, Aabraham Tuenes, and Jan Lueken with their families.
Pastorius was a wealthy Lutheran German from Frankfurt. Along the way he came to Crefeld, where he recruited the community of Friends to this venture. They were more than ready! Some Crefelders, such as Jacob Telner and Jan Streypers, had already bought land from Penn, but no specific plans for resettlement had yet been made. In the end, resettlement of Crefeld’s Quakers would be almost complete. While thirteen families made the trip in 1683, by 1685 all but one family of the Quakers in Crefeld had picked up and gone to Germantown. This and the subsequent removal to Germantown of not-too-distant Cresheim’s Quakers, also mostly former Dutch Mennonites, in the next few years There were 42 of them, in 13 families
#1 East: Peter Kurlis, his wife Elizabeth Doors, and two children; #1 West: Willem Streypers, his wife Belcken Tuffers, and five children; #2 East: Thones Kunders, his wife Elin Doors, and three children; #2 West: Dirck op den Graeff, his wife Nilcken Vijten6; perhaps his mother Margarethe; #3 East: Jan Lensen, and his wife Mercken Peters; they probably remained Mennonite; #3 West: A double lot for Dirck’s younger brothers: Abraham op den Graeff, his wife Catherina Jansen, and two children; Herman op den Graeff, his wife Liesbet van Bebber, and perhaps his sister Margaret; #4 East: Lenart Arets and his wife Agnes Doors; #4 West: Jan Seimens, his wife Mercken Lucken, and one child; #5 East: Reynier Tyson; #5 West: Reserved for the Pietists and a public square acre; #6 East: Jan Lucken, and his wife Mary Tyson, who married just days before leaving; #6 West: Johannes Bleikers, his wife Rebecca and two children; #7 East: Abraham Tunes, and his wife Beatrix Lucken; #7 West: Reserved for the Pietists
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