{"id":6247,"date":"2016-05-31T22:19:55","date_gmt":"2016-06-01T02:19:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/?p=6247"},"modified":"2016-06-01T08:53:10","modified_gmt":"2016-06-01T12:53:10","slug":"1897-isaac-worrall-tree-inscription","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/2016\/05\/31\/1897-isaac-worrall-tree-inscription\/","title":{"rendered":"1897 Isaac Worrall Tree Inscription"},"content":{"rendered":"

This spring, we learned about an 1897 inscription on an American Beech tree in Glen Providence Park!<\/strong> Research into its author revealed a family with deep roots in Media Borough, and direct\u00a0involvement\u00a0with other well-known characters and places in the park\u2019s pre-history, from its years when it was known as Scroggie Valley<\/a><\/strong>. We also estimated the remarkable age of what is likely one of the park\u2019s oldest trees.<\/p>\n

Out of obvious view of passersby, the ornamental inscription reads:<\/p>\n

Isaac Worrall<\/em>
\n Media, Pa.<\/em>
\n April 3, 1897<\/em><\/h3>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Worralls were one of the earliest European families to settle near Media<\/strong>[1]<\/a> after William Penn arrived in Pennsylvania in 1682. Early maps show a Worrall property across Ridley Creek from Broomall\u2019s Run,[2]<\/a> and you can find the Worrall family (sometimes spelled Worrell) on most of the historical maps of Media<\/a><\/strong> we have found.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Isaac Worralls of Media<\/h3>\n

Four generations of Isaac Worralls listed on Ancestry.com lived and died in Media, Pennsylvania\u00a0<\/strong>[3]<\/a> – the 1860 census confirms the birth years of the first three generations.[4]<\/a> At least the first three were builders, and seemingly all were active in community service. The first Isaac Worrall lived 1792-1865, the second 1827-1893, the third 1854-1920, and the fourth 1884-1948.[5]<\/a> That\u2019s at least 156 years of Isaac Worralls in Media!<\/strong>\u00a0The third Isaac Worrall is likely our artistic inscriber \u2013 he would have been 43 years old in 1897.<\/p>\n

The Isaac Worralls seem to have been involved in the shaping of Media Borough in its early decades after it was established in 1850.<\/strong> Just one source, the 1900 Semi-centennial of the Borough of Media<\/em>,[6]<\/a> lists Isaac Worrall as one of the incorporators of Christ Church<\/strong> in 1854; Isaac Worrall, Jr. as one of the incorporators of the Media Gas Company<\/strong> in 1866; and Isaac Worrall as a Burgess of Media<\/strong> 1891-1892. An Isaac Worrall served as a private in the Civil War<\/strong>\u00a0under none other than captain John M. Broomall<\/strong>[7]<\/a> \u2013 an active opponent of slavery, a US Congressman, and the owner of Scroggie Valley<\/strong> from around 1864 to his death in 1894. Continuing into the 20th<\/span>\u00a0century, an Isaac Worrall was one of the founding members of South Media Fire Company<\/strong> in 1922.[8]<\/a><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Scroggie Builders!<\/h3>\n

Beyond community involvement, the Isaac Worralls left tangible marks \u2013 they built structures that still stand in Media.<\/strong> An 1855 Map of Media lists Isaac Worrall, Jr. as a mason;[9]<\/a> the 1860 census lists Isaac Worrall as \u201cMaster Stone Mason\u201d; and an 1870 Plan of Media lists \u201cIsaac Worrall, builder.\u201d[10]<\/a> Several Worrall building projects are listed in the local papers from the late 1800\u2019s, including the brick \u201ccentre building\u201d of the Elwyn Institute<\/strong> in 1858.[11]<\/a> An 1864 advertisement for bricks manufactured by Isaac Worrall, Jr. lists \u201call kinds of Bricks, consisting of hard, salmon, pressed, back and front stretchers, paving, etc., all well assorted, and of the best qualities\u201d[12]<\/a> \u2013 <\/em>Worrall bricks could have been used in any number of remaining 19th\u00a0<\/span>century buildings around Media!<\/p>\n

Notably, in 1867, Isaac Worrall built a \u201cfarm house\u201d for his former Civil War captain, Judge John M. Broomall, at “Scrogy”,<\/strong>\u00a0as announced in the Delaware County American: “The scenery around it is abrupt, yet very fine, and such as might suit the visionary fancies of the romantic, but not the more practical ideas of a thorough farmer.”<\/em> [13]<\/a>\u00a0So,\u00a0Isaac Worall built the stone Scroggie estate that still exists today,<\/strong> which shared its name with Scroggie Valley and the Scroggie Shingle Mill<\/a><\/strong>, and played a role in the glen’s\u00a01700\u2019s Newlywed Ghost Story!<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Delaware County Institute of Science<\/h3>\n

More Worrall intersections\u00a0with Glen Providence history can be found in\u00a0the Delaware County Institute of Science (DCIS).<\/strong> In 1902, DCIS President T. Chalkley Palmer <\/strong>presented\u00a0a paper about\u201cLocal Mineralogy and Mineralogists,\u201d\u00a0<\/em>[14]<\/a>\u00a0including Isaac Worrell[5]<\/a>\u00a0among the mineralogists. Chalkley Palmer is\u00a0the man who wrote in depth about Scroggie Valley<\/strong> in 1889, and who was the subject of our history lecture at DCIS in February. DCIS has microscope slides of diatoms<\/a><\/strong> collected by Palmer at \u201cWorrell\u2019s Spring\u201d<\/strong> in 1902, which we discovered when viewing slides Palmer collected from Scroggie Run. The 1911 Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science<\/em> lists in the Anthropology Section of its Museum Catalogue, “Collection of several hundred arrow heads, supposed to be mainly local, presented by Isaac Worrall, Sr., of Media.”<\/em><\/strong>[15]<\/a> These would likely be from the local Okehocking<\/a>, <\/strong>and it is fun to imagine some could have been collected in the glen.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

So how old is the tree?<\/h3>\n

In 2015, we measured the diameter of the tree as 45.5\u201d. Based on a formula by the International Society of Arboriculture<\/strong> to estimate the age of trees without taking a core sample, we multiplied the diameter by 6 to estimate the age of an American Beech tree in a wooded area.\u00a0[16]<\/a>\u00a0The estimated age is 273 years old – the American Beech could have been growing as early as 1742, before the American Revolution!<\/strong> The tree\u00a0would have had to be fairly large already in 1897 when Isaac Worrall carved that inscription.<\/p>\n

How intruiging that the Isaac Worrall who left a long-lasting mark in Glen Providence Park was part of such an enduring family of Media, and a part of Scroggie Valley history!<\/span><\/p>\n

A tremendous thank you to Scott McConnell for telling us about the American Beech, which we had walked past innumerable times without noticing its inscription. What a wonderful piece of history \u2013 we are so glad Scott was observant enough to discover it!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At this point, to protect the tree, we won\u2019t publish where in the park it is located.\u00a0If you have any photographs or more information about the Isaac Worralls of Media Borough or their descendants, please let us know!\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Endnotes are below the photo. <\/em><\/p>\n

\""Isaac

“Isaac Worrall
Media, Pa.
April 3, 1897″<\/p><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

ENDNOTES:<\/strong><\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> The Rose Tree Families,\u00a0<\/em>Jane Levis Carter, KNA Press, 1984.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> \u201cMap of Early Settlements from early Taylor Surveys,\u201d The Rose Tree Families,\u00a0<\/em>Jane Levis Carter, KNA Press, 1984.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ancestry.com<\/a>\u00a0records on Isaac Worrall retrieved May 26, 2016.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> June 25, 1860 census of \u201cFree Inhabitants in Media Borough\u201d accessed through Ancestry.com, listing the second Isaac Worrall as a \u201cMaster Stone Mason.\u201d<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> As each generation aged, the use of Jr. gave way to Sr., making it unclear to which of the four Isaac Worralls some of the local records referred. Additionally, Worrall is occasionally spelled as Worrell (even within the same family), and there were other Isaac Worralls living in the area in the 1800\u2019s. But the 1860 census of Media Borough make the birth years of the first three generations clear. There is an obituary consistent with this family history for \u201cIsaac Worrall, Member of Old Family\u201d in the August 2, 1948 Chester Times.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Semi-centennial of the Borough of Media, Penna.<\/a>, <\/em>May 19, 1900.<\/em><\/p>\n

[7]<\/a>\u00a0PaCivilWar.com<\/a> \u2013 retrieved May 26, 2016. Isaac Worrall was in the Sixteenth Regiment Militia under Captain John M. Broomall.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> South Media Fire Company,\u00a0http:\/\/www.southmediafire.com\/our-history.php<\/a> retrieved May 31, 2016. Three other Worralls were included in the founders.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> 1855 Map of Media the Seat of Justice Delaware County, Pennsylvania<\/em> by Thos. Hughes, C.E., courtesy of Media Historic Archives.<\/p>\n

[10]<\/a> 1870 Plan of the Borough of Media, PA<\/em> by G.M. Hopkins, C.E., courtesy of Delaware County Institute of Science.<\/p>\n

[11]<\/a> \u201cA Noble Institution,\u201d Delaware County Republican,<\/em> June 11, 1858.<\/p>\n

[12]<\/a> \u201cMedia Brick Yard,\u201d Delaware County American, <\/em>May 4, 1864.<\/p>\n

[13]<\/a> “Improvements in Media,”\u00a0Delaware County American,\u00a0<\/em>April 10, 1867.<\/p>\n

[14]<\/a> Delaware County Institute of Science Minutes:\u00a0\u201cOctober 16, 1902 \u2013 President Palmer read a highly interesting paper on \u201cLocal Mineralogy and Mineralogists\u201d. Among the latter he referred to Dr. George Smith, Col. Joseph Willcox, Theodore D. Rand, Dr. J. M. Cardeza, Patrick Bradley, Lewis Palmer, John Smedley, Deshong, Dr. W. T. W. Dickeson, and Isaac Worrell.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

[15]<\/a> Proceedings of the Delaware County Institute of Science<\/a>, Volume VI: October, 1910 to July, 1911. Media.<\/p>\n

[16]<\/a> Asheville GreenWorks, ashevillegreenworks.org\/how-old-is-my-tree<\/a>\u00a0retrieved May 26, 2016.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This spring, we learned about an 1897 inscription on an American Beech tree in Glen Providence Park! Research into its author revealed a family with deep roots in Media Borough, and direct\u00a0involvement\u00a0with other well-known characters and places in the park\u2019s pre-history, from its years when it was known as Scroggie Valley. We also estimated the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":6248,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4],"tags":[119,211,233,255,39,78,163,102,9,19,232],"class_list":["post-6247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history-of-glen-providence-park","category-nature-and-wildlife-glen-providence-park","tag-delaware-county-institute-of-science","tag-diatoms","tag-history","tag-isaac-worrall","tag-judge-john-m-broomall","tag-media-borough","tag-media-pa","tag-okehocking","tag-scroggie-valley","tag-t-chalkley-palmer","tag-trees"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6247"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6247"}],"version-history":[{"count":28,"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6247\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6280,"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6247\/revisions\/6280"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenprovidencepark.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}