Stewards of the Land: Siegfried vs Rodale

Johannes and Elizabeth Siegfried were my maternal sixth great grandparents

I recall my father speaking from time to time of Rodale Insitute. I vaguely knew that they had something to do with new gardening methods, and that Dad would sometimes buy their seeds or try a new technique; sometimes he was pleased, sometimes not.

I didn’t realize that Rodale was a local institution until I changed the route I took between Maryland and Catasauqua and regularly drove Route 222. Near Maxatawny, PA, I saw signs pointing to Rodale.

Decorative wrought iron gate bears the name John Siegfried, a descendant of the original settler.

Imagine my surprise when I was researching the Siegfrieds, a new-found set of ancestors, and saw a reference to Rodale! Last spring, my brother Bill and I stopped in on a whim, before I was even quite sure what our connection was. We were warmly welcomed and offered the opportunity to take a self-guided tour.

Bill inspects the spring house, which dates to 1790.

It turns out that my first Siegfried immigrants were Johannes and Elizabeth Siegfried. They were reportedly Mennonites and may have been from either Germany or Switzerland. Arriving in Philadelphia in 1719, they initially settled in Oley, Philadelphia County (now Berks). About 1724, (1) Johannes purchased large tracts of land in “Mach-set-Hanne” (Maxatawny), accumulating 600 acres before his death in 1747. At that time he split the land between his two sons, John and Joseph. Siegfrieds remained on the “Siegfried’s Dale” property for over 200 years. In 1971 it was purchased by the Rodales. (2)

J. I. Rodale was the father of organic farming in this country. It was said he had an almost missionary zeal. In 1971, when J.I. Rodale died, his son Robert took over and expanded the agriculture/health-related business with the purchase of the Siegfried farm. After more than 200 years of the Siegfried’s stewardship, the farm was worn out. The Rodales have since used the property for large-scale research using organic and self-sustaining farming methods. Today the farm has been rejuvenated and is the site of the “Rodale Institute.”

The plaque on this home is dated 1827.

What is wonderful is that the Rodale spirit of rejuvenation and preservation has extended to the Siegfried farm. The buildings on the property-- homes, barns, a springhouse, and a schoolhouse--have been maintained and the site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as “Siegfried’s Dale Farm.” Visitors are welcome to the property for a planned or self-guided tour. As Siegfried descendants we received a warm greeting.

One of the homes in this grouping also dates to 1790.

As to my direct ancestors, Johannes died on the farm in 1747 after living on his land for over 20 years. His wife Elizabeth lived another 20 years, with her death coming in 1767. Although no markers remain, they were buried in the Siegfried family cemetery, which is located on the property and can be visited.

The Siegfried Family Cemetery is on the property and can be visited. It definitely needed a mowing when we visited in May 2013!

Their oldest child (and my fifth great grandmother), Catherine Siegfried, was born in Oley in 1719 shortly after their arrival in this country. On Christmas Day, 1737, she married Johann Frederick Romich (Romig) and left the family farm. My family follows this line of descent.

The oldest buildings remaining on the property date from 1790, which means that none of my ancestors actually lived in them. However, homes were rebuilt on the same sites, located over springs so that fresh water was protected from possible raids and easily accessible during the winter.  So when you walk the grounds, you are walking where my family's ancestors walked and enjoying the same rolling landscape.

One of the whimsical touches on the Rodale Institute property

(1) William Penn had been given title to the land by the English crown, but he didn’t actually purchase it from the Lenni Lenape until 1732. Therefore some records date the first Siegfried deed to 1732, about eight years after he took possession.

(2) Descendants of Johannes and Elizabeth Siegfried are indebted to Leon Borst, who published The Siegfrieds of Siegfried's Bridge.

Preserving What’s Now for Then

In the last years of her life, my mother, Eleanor Manning Stine, quietly went about preserving the family history for the future. She collected memorabilia into a central file cabinet, labeled photos (sometimes incorrectly), and organized family letters dating back to the 1940s. 

Sally, Ed, and Peg Manning when they briefly lived in Detroit!

She did all of this without making a big deal about what she was doing. We knew there were things in the file cabinet but she didn’t make a point of pulling them out and sharing them with us.

It was an amazing treasure trove when we went through it.

Letter from Mom to her gang at home during WWII.

I wish, though, that she had pulled us in. I wish had taken the time before she passed away to talk with her about her family. But so often when we visited, we were busy with holidays and families. In making new memories and dealing with day-to-day events, so many old memories were lost.

After Mom died, we started to ask my father more questions. What a joy! Dad didn’t volunteer stories often, but when we got rolling he might drop a bombshell, like saying, “Well, of course, there was the time your mother moved out on me,” or “Well maybe that’s when I almost died when I was a kid.” We would explode with laughter and amazement and demand details. But think of the stories we missed by not starting sooner!

I asked Dad why he missed so much school in sixth grade

I never knew either of my grandfathers. Dad’s father, Titus William Stine, died in a railroad accident just before Christmas in 1946. Dad had married in 1944, entered the service, and traveled around the country with his new bride for two years during the war. He was anticipating with pleasure getting to know his father as a grownup when he returned. He said his father was not always the best provider, but he was a lot of fun to be with. Clearly Dad thought he was a good man. 

 

Titus Stine is on the left in this humorous postcard.

We drove to some of the places they had lived, but as I try to write stories about my forebears, I realize there is so little I know, and so much I could have asked.

 

Dad lived in 516 Locust, Bethlehem briefly. 514 Locust was a bakery!

Even more of an unknown is Mom’s father, William Traver Manning. Coincidentally he also died during the war, in 1945, but from a heart condition. Ironically we have many letters written by and to Mom’s family members, her mother's memoirs, her brother's memoirs, and an extensive history about William’s father, E. B. Manning, but very little picture of what "Bill" was like has emerged. We know where when he was born, where he lived, for whom he worked, and even who introduced him to his future wife, May Strouse. We also know that he practiced the trade of electrical engineer from a very young age, building an electrical generator contraption that provided electricity for his father's home before anyone else in the area had it. But we don’t know if he was funny or stern or what his hobbies might have been. Was he as involved in radios as his son Ed?

 

William Traver Manning, 1916

As I write this, I have three great nieces and one great nephew. That means I personally knew two of their great grandparents (my Mom and Dad) and two of their great great grandparents (my two grandmothers). How I would love to have heard stories about what my great grandparents and great grandparents were like! I am so glad that we have photos (and not just digital ones that can be lost in the ether) to show them that Mom held Immy, and that Dad met Immy, Julia, Oliver, and Avery in turn and had a chance to see their personalities start to emerge. But without all of us preserving their stories, they will be as much a mystery to them as my forebears are to me!

Mom and Dad with first great grandchild, Imogen Edwards

Dad enjoys his four great grandchildren