In early October 2024, the Marketing & Development Coordinator at Cliveden asked me to photograph their Revolutionary Germantown Festival. Attending this event, whether it's been a reenactment in past years with American and British units firing musket and cannon volleys at each other or now a festival, it's one of my events I'll attend most years. It's always a fun day with many friends to see and only about a 30-minute drive from home.

When I arrived on this beautiful fall day, I started searching for a young man wearing a three-cornered hat and his young daughter. Why? Last year, I met them here and took almost the exact photo of them, as shown below. The only difference is that the beautiful little girl is older. As we were chatting, he mentioned looking for me also!

The original image is in blog #66. Also, that first photo of them is featured on The Revolutionary Germantown Festival site to advertise their upcoming 2025 event!  

See, it's possible for two opposing sides with different viewpoints to sit down and chat cordially. The American is my good friend, well-known educator/reenactor in the Philadelphia region Noah Lewis, who portrays Edward "Ned" Hector-Black's Revolutionary War Hero.

To learn more about Naoh Lewis and Ned Hector, who he portrays, visit his website NedHector.com.

The Cliveden Barn and Carriage House, built in 1766, is now used as offices and a visitor center. It includes space for presentations and displays local artwork. Look at the concentration this guy has on this painting. What do you think, does he like it or not?

What's impressive is the original Cliveden mansion, which was the impetus for George Washington to lose a surprise victory over the British at the Battle of Germantown in 1777, is still standing! A small number of British troops barricaded themselves in the stone mansion, holding off a brutal assault that cost the American forces about 75 men. You can see sections of the house still damaged by the battle today. 

At this event always, there is a dedication ceremony to honor both American and British troops who perished in this battle. It's a very moving tribute!

Sometimes, we forget that there was once slavery in the northern colonies as well as in the southern ones. Only in 1847 was slavery in PA abolished. Benjamin Chew Jr. owned this summer property during the Battle of Germantown in 1777. He was the chief justice of the Supreme Court of the Province of Pennsylvania and later the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. At that time, Chew held four owned four enslaved people in the year 1776.

From the Cliveden website-

Built as a country house for attorney Benjamin Chew, Cliveden was completed in 1767 and was home to seven generations of the Chew family. Cliveden has long been famous as the site of the American Revolutionary War Battle of Germantown in 1777 and for its Georgian architecture. New research is unearthing a more complicated history at Cliveden, which involves layers of significance, including the lives of those who were enslaved by and in service to the Chew family. This information broadens the meaning of Cliveden as a preserved historic place, exploring themes and stories of American identity and freedom. Traces of the history of the Cliveden property and its occupants can be found throughout the five-and-a-half-acre woody landscape.

Later in the day, Dinah, a once-enslaved woman at the Stenton House in Philadelphia, shared her experience of the American Revolution. It was revegetating hearing her story.

Click here for the photo gallery!

Thank you for reading! Blog #85 will be posted on April 1, 2025. Be safe & well!

Ken Bohrer