OCR Text |
Show ABODE OF TRAITOR BENEDICT ARNOLD'S MANSION IN PHILADELPHIA. House Is One of the Few Specimens of Colonial Architecture Left' In the Country Now belongs to the City. Mount Pleasant, In tho East Park, near Columbia avenue entrance, which Is almost equally well known to park visitors as Arnold's mansion, is to be the headquarters ot La Morlganta Klambo, the newly formed organlza-tion organlza-tion of fashionable women motorists, says tho Philadelphia Public Ledger. Few buildings In the park equal ftount Pleasant In interest, and none is older. It is one of tho few well preserved pre-served country mansions built In this country in Colonial times. As a specimen speci-men of architecture modeled upon tho style mndo popular by Sir Christopher Wren, it Is oneDf the half dozen or less which remain In this country. The house, which John Adams' who dlncd there In 1774 declared wns tho most elegant In Pennslvnnln, wns built for Capt. John McPherson In 17C2. In 1779 MacPhorson grew tired of tho plaio and sold It to Gen. Benedict Bene-dict Arnol, who had married Peggy Shlppen. In Its time the mansion has borne three names. MacPherson called it Tho Hills nnd also Clunle, and subsequently It was known as Mount Pleasant. Capt. MacPherson was one of the most original men In tho province. If he had not been Immensely wealthy ho probably would not have been tolerated; tol-erated; but as a prlvnteorsman in England's wars with Franco and Spain before the revolution ho was lucky and came home with a genuine gold galleon. He had two sons. One was an officer In the British army, but resigned his commission on the breaking out of the revolution and became be-came a major in the Continental army, The other son was with tho colonists from the beginning of the struggle and waB killed at the attempt to take Quebec, telng the first Phlladelphlan' of Importance to glvo up his life for the cause. Old Capt. MacPhorson mado hlmsolf tiresome to congress, begging for command com-mand of a ship, but did not gain his .desire. Ho published the first direc tory of Philadelphia In 1785. This book is really one of tho curiosities of literature, liter-ature, for the captain canvassed the city himself and printed the replies he received nt each door In answer to his request for names. He died In 1792 and lies In St. Paul's churchyard. When Arnold married Peggy Ship-pen, Ship-pen, daughter of Edward Shlppen, subsequently sub-sequently chief Justice ot Pennsylvania, Pennsylva-nia, he bought Mount Pleasant and settled It on himself for life, with tho remainder of his wife nnd children. chil-dren. At the tlmo Arnold wns military mili-tary governor of Philadelphia, nnd Judge Pctora, who occupied Belmont, tho seat across tho Schuylkill from Mount Pleasant, accused the general of having converted $50,000 to his own use and of having used this toward the purchase of Mount Pleasnnt. Arnold did not long remain at Mount Pleasant. After his treason ho of course had to leavo the country, and the state of Pennsylvania confiscated confis-cated his life Interest In tho beautiful estate Baron do Steuben boenme the next tenant of the place and Arnold's life Interest was sold to Colonel Richard Rich-ard Hampton for 1850. In tho Shlppen correspondence, published pub-lished u few yeurs ago, thero uru several sev-eral references to Mount Pleasant In 178S In a letter from Mrs. Arnold to her father It appears that Arnold had an Idea of privately getting tltlo to the property for his family. Ho changed his mind, however, and suggested that tho placo be sold at public sale for as much ns It would -bring. In 179G Mount Pleasant was sold, but for barely enough to satisfy tho mortgages mort-gages upon It. Gen. Jonathan Williams, n revolutionary revolu-tionary patriot nnd commercial agent of the United States In France from 1777 to 1785, bought the country seat and lived thero for years. Tho property Remained In his family for many years and was purchased by tho park commission by virtue of tho act of 18C7, which permitted tho acquisition ac-quisition ot what aro now park properties. |