History
Elizabeth Garrett was born in 1831 on the Williamson farm on Bishop's Hollow Road in Newtown Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania. She was the daughter of Adam Buckley Williamson, a descendent of Newtown's early settler, Daniel Williamson, in whose honor our SISTER-TOWN relationship with Stretton, England has been formed. Daniel Williamson purchased the original 450-acre tract on September 24, 1692. Elizabeth married Casper S. Garrett of Upper Darby at her father's house on March 3, 1853. Garrett owned and operated the Union Paper Mill on Darby Creek in Newtown Township. (He also owned the "Paper Mill House," the building which was made into a museum of the history of Newtown Township.)
The Williamson farm in Newtown apparently was sold later to Elizabeth's father, but she was determined to have it back. Her husband purchased 212.75 of its original acres for her on December 6, 1877 from William Sheldon and Mary Thomas, for a total of 24,400. Elizabeth later acquired more acreage, bringing her holdings to 262 acres.
After she died in 1910, her will disclosed that she had left her farm and all of its buildings and equipment to provide a vacation home "for the support and maintenance of poor children and deserving single women, as many as possible, so each shall remain for a limited period during the spring, summer, and fall months and shall be succeeded by others in the same manner." (It was thought that the working girls were included because of her compassion for the girls who worked in her husband's paper mill. The beneficiaries were to come from Philadelphia and other cities and towns where farm life was not known.) The will stated: "I desire that the beneficiaries shall not live in one large building, my wish being that smaller buildings to accommodate fewer beneficiaries shall be erected and built rather than one large building to accommodate all who may be enjoying the benefit of the lodge." It was a departure from the will when the lodge was constructed in 1916, rather than smaller buildings. She stipulated that the farm be kept as always, "with a succession of crops in different fields, with flowers in suitable places, and with all the buildings, furniture and farm animals retained." The will stipulated that the Board of Mangers could sell small portions of the outskirts of the property, if necessary, but must never sell the woods adjoining the creek, "as I desire the farm and its surroundings to be kept and preserved as nearly as possible in its present condition."
Francis D. Keen, President of the Board of Mangers in 1971, stated that, under a fund set up by the will, the Garrett-Williamson Foundation has an income of approximately $70,000 per year, depending upon the current bond market. This information was given at a time when the community "Y" of Eastern Delaware County sought to lease the Lodge and fifty of the 262 acres for a "Y" program in this area. This plan was finally abandoned when it was decided that, under the terms of the will, the "Y" would not be able to get the type of commitment of the facilities that it needed.
The Foundation has been generous with the use of the facilities over the years. Classes were held in the lodge when the Marple Newtown High School burned down in 1956. The Ellis School had some classes there over the years. A private school for Armenian children, the Armenian Sisters Academy, now of Radnor, also leased the lodge in early 1970's. The Marple-Newtown Recreation Commission also had an office there. Senior citizens, churches, non profit organizations, out side groups and Boy and Girl Scouts use the facilities for picnics, social functions, and retreats. The Delaware County 4-H youth organization uses the barn and pastures to teach youth about agriculture. More in accordance with the benefactors will, summer day camp programs for underprivileged children from the cities are conducted at Garrett-Williamson Lodge every year, although not the extended visits envisioned by Elizabeth Garrett. Officials say present-day financial limitations do not permit this. They also say conditions for single women have changed, so there is not the need for such a facility to provide summer vacations for them.
The Foundation has a charming reminder of this unselfish woman, who loved her childhood home enough to retrieve it and leave it for the enjoyment of those less fortunate. It is a Sampler, fashioning a poem in her own fine needlework, stitched when Elizabeth was sixteen. It reads:
"We were made to work awhile,
Cheerful at our work to smile;
Thinking as we labor thus
Of the heaven prepared for us."
Information for this article is taken from the News of Delaware County articles written by Erma Shaver, January 7, 1971 and August 26, 1976.