Preserving the Written Word

In an era of texting, tweeting, typing and photocopying, it’s hard to imagine anyone writing anything by hand – much less using a quill pen, bottles of ink and candle wax as a seal.

Even more reason why when Peter and Margaret Choate came across a number of scribed yellowed, faded, hundreds of years old documents which Mr. Choate dubbed a “fortuitous circumstance” the couple, who head up Horsham Preservation and Historical Association, knew they were worth conserving.

“It’s part of the fabric of Horsham,” Mr. Choate said of the documents, some of which relate to 18th and 19th century land transfers of the and adjacent 42-acre . “These are interesting documents that people should be able to look at.”

And the Choates are working to ensure that can happen. One of the documents that the couple acquired from Buck Penrose – the last living member of the family that had previously owned the historic home that the Choates live in and work to restore - is a 1715 indenture transferring land from Samuel Carpenter to his wife, two sons and daughter. Carpenter, originally from the town of Horsham in England, named the township.

“There was nothing here. This was just property,” Mr. Choate said of the 5,500 acres – some of which is now part of Willow Grove air base – that Carpenter had owned.

For $730, paper conservator Elizabeth Wendelin is working to remove mold, clean, minimize yellow areas, mend, reinforce, humidify and flatten and bleach and wash, according to a report Wendelin provided to the Choates.

“It’s actually in relatively good condition because it was kept in the dark,” Wendelin said of the document, adding that the ink is still legible. “Light damages, will fade media and discolor paper.”

Once the indenture is conserved, the Choates hope to coordinate with the to have it displayed. Mr. Choate said the hope is to enter into an agreement with the Friends of the Library to help cover the costs of conserving a handful of other land transfer documents.

“We find it interesting,” Margaret Choate said, with a laugh. “But, we are strange.”