Morgan Log House started Daniel Boone clan’s role
Grandparents’ settlement to host ‘reunion 300 years in the making’
KULPSVILLE>> Daniel Boone came later.
It was his grandparents, Edward and Elizabeth Morgan, who started the family’s role in local, regional and national history.
On July 16 and 17, the Morgan Log House, at 850 Weikel Road in the Kulpsville section of Towamencin Township, will hold its first Morgan Family Reunion Weekend, billed as “a reunion 300 years in the making.”
Morgan family descendants have been given a special invitation, but the weekend is open to anyone and free for all Morgan Log House members, Sarah DiSantis, Morgan Log House’s executive director, said.
“We are going to be highlight- ing the Morgans and giving the descendants a place to all converge for the weekend,” she said.
That’s not the only reason for the reunion, though, she said.
“The other part of the program is to help build our membership base,” DiSantis said.
The Morgan Log House was settled in 1708.
Local historical highlights include the family’s part in the 1727 settling of Towamencin Township and the earlier founding of Gwynedd Quaker Meeting.
Demonstrations and activities at Morgan Log House on July 16 and 17 will include hearth cooking of Welsh foods, 18th century gardening, 18th century games, tape loom demonstrations, 18th century beer brewing, behind the scenes house tours, optional tours of the Daniel Boone Homestead,
“There’ll be close to 100 objects on display that are directly related to the Morgan family, dating as early as 1740.” — Sarah DiSantis, Morgan Log House executive director
18th century cider making, Welsh folklore and culture, presentations on the settling of Towamencin Township and displays of rare Morgan family objects and papers.
“There’ll be close to 100 objects on display that are directly related to the Morgan family, dating as early as 1740,” DiSantis said.
That includes things such as wedding certificates, family Bibles, china, wills, photographs, dresses and bonnets, she said.
“It’ll be on display throughout the entire two story log house,” DiSantis said.
Items on display will include a clock made by David Rittenhouse, a grandson of Edward and Elizabeth Morgan. Rittenhouse supervised the surveying that set some of Pennsylvania’s boundary lines with neighboring states, was Pennsylvania’s treasurer from 1777 to 1789 and was appointed by President George Washington to be the first director of the U.S. Mint.
“David’s sister, Margaret, got married to a Morgan in 1748,” DiSantis said.
David Rittenhouse had made the clock the previous year, she said.
“He gave it to his sister as a wedding gift,” DiSantis said.
Montgomery County Historical Society, which now owns the clock, is lending it to the Morgan Log House for the weekend, she said.
This will be the first time the clock will be displayed at the Morgan homestead, she said.
Membership and other information about Morgan Log House, as well as about the Morgan Family Reunion Weekend, are available at www.morganloghouse.org or by emailing DiSantis at director@mor-
ganloghouse.org.
From 50 to 100 Morgan family descendants are expected to attend the reunion, DiSantis said.
“They’re coming from as far away as Iowa and Tennessee and Virginia,” she said.
Along with the events at Morgan Log House, there will be discounts available
to attendees for dining and lodging, she said. Similar to the other reunion weekend activities, the discounts are available to all Morgan Log House members, not just to Morgan descendants, she said.
There will also be events at other historic sites related to the Morgans, DiSantis said.
Attendees are invited to the 9:30 a.m. Sunday, July 17 Quaker Meeting at Gwynedd Friends, she said. Edward Morgan helped found Gwynedd Quaker Meeting, according to Morgan Log House information.
The Quaker meeting will be followed by Dr. James Quinn, Gwynedd histo-
rian, speaking at 10:30 a.m. on the history of Gwynedd meeting and a tour of the burial grounds. At 1 p.m. there will be a Welsh language presentation.
The Evans-Mumbower Mill in Ambler will have an open house 1 to 4 p.m. Sunday, July 17. The Morgan family is related to the Evans-Mumbower Mill through intermarriage in later generations, DiSantis said.