Tredyffrin Easttown Historical Society
History Quarterly Digital Archives

Source: Winter 1978 Volume 16 Number 4, Pages 88–91

Notes and Comments

• Baugh Notebooks
• Another View of the Devon Fireworks Disaster
• More about Henry Clay Burn
• Index

Page 88

Baugh Notebooks

Among the miscellaneous books and ephemera listed in a second­hand book catalog recently were two volumes of the notebooks compiled by Dr. Anthony Wayne Baugh, Thanks to the alert eyes of the Tredyffrin Library staff, they are now available and in the library's collection in Strafford, a part of Head Librarian Marian Boben's program to try to add at least one significant item of local history to the collection each year.

Dr. Anthony Wayne Baugh was one of the founders and charter members of the Tredyffrin-Easttown History Club. His lifelong interest in local history, however, is illustrated in these notebooks, which were compiled in 1913 and 1914.

Their contents fall into several classifications.

First are copies of the official minutes of the School Board of Tredyffrin Township, "found in the attic of the Davis home in the Valley, February 1913", for the period from June 3, 1872 through May 25, 1876 and minutes (though not complete) of the joint meetings of the High School Boards of Tredyffrin and Easttown Townships between May 23, 1907 and July 13, 1913.

Page 89

Also included are the annual District reports for the Tredyf­frin School District for 1873 and 1876; and a summary showing the number of schools in Tredyffrin, the number of teachers, number of pupils, average attendance, and miscellaneous income, cost, and other information for each year from 1854 through 1913.

In another section of the notebooks is a transcript of the Tredyffrin tax rates for eleven of the years between 1765 and 1785, copied from the Pennsylvania Archives.

Similarly, in the second volume of the books is a copy (all in Dr. Baugh's manuscript) of the Docket Book of William W. Davis, Justice of the Peace, Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, for the period from 1875 to 1893, and a copy of the record of the Richards family, taken from the "old Richards Bible".

The books also contain considerable material, copied from the scrapbooks of Dr. Henry Pleasants, Jr., of Wayne. Most of the items were originally taken from newspaper clippings, with the material including copies (again in manuscript, of several art­icles by Julius F. Sasche on the old inns along the Lancaster Pike, articles by Ellwood Roberts on Valley Forge and different Revolutionary War headquarters buildings in the area, and articles on Tredyffrin and Radnor "from the Pen of an Old Resident", among other items.

In addition to his historical interests, Dr. Baugh was a surgeon for the Pennsylvania Railroad, served two terms as a School Director in Tredyffrin Township, and was also at one time the school physician. He also had been a sergeant-at-arms at the Republican national Convention. His home was at the southeast corner of Lancaster Avenue and Darby Road in Paoli, but the Baugh family had lived in Tredyffrin since 1743, first settling on Bear Road in the Howellville area. Dr. Baugh, who also had a private practice, died in 1938.

Another View of the Devon Fireworks Disaster

Since the publication of the article on the Devon fireworks explosion, another view of the rescue operations following the blasts has been reported by Mrs. Minnie Salema, of 316 Dorset Road in Devon. Mrs. Salema, then 22 years old, and her mother owned two houses directly across the street from the fireworks factory on Old Lancaster Road. One of the houses was a two-family unit which also included a small store, the other was a three-family home.

Page 90

After the explosion, Mrs. Salema recently reported, the houses were "a total wreck". The porch of one remained standing only because it was leaning against a telephone pole. Nor was the loss covered by insurance, since the insurance covered only fire damage, not damage by explosion.

But because the properties were fully paid for, Mrs. Salema further stated, she was told she would not receive any aid from the Red Cross or other agencies, with the suggestion to her that she take out a mortgage on the properties to pay for rebuilding and remodeling. While she and her mother lived with relatives, the two-family house was rebuilt; it was ready for reoccupancy after about three months.

Mrs. Salema also reported that although cadets were assigned to guard the contents of the store, the store was completely looted by the time she and her mother were able to return to the scene to begin clean-up operations.

More about Henry Clay Burn

Some of you may have been wondering about what happened to Henry Clay Burn (Burns) after his return from the gold fields of Calif­ornia.

When the Civil War broke out, he attempted to enlist at West Chester, but was rejected. Determined to enter the conflict, he and several of his friends from Howellville (including George L. Beatty and James C. Smiley) went to Harrisburg, where they enlisted on October 25, l86l in Company H of the 7th Volunteer Cavalry.

After receiving its colors from Governor Curtin on the Capitol steps, the unit was sent to Jefferson, Ind. for intensive train­ing and instruction. After about two months of drill, the troops were sent to Tennessee, where they engaged in the Pikeville, Mur­freeboro, Stone River, McMinnville, and Chickamaugua campaigns. By this time, Burns was a sergeant and the company quartermaster.

The company re-enlisted in January, l864. Burns was now 37, a muscular man, 5'9" tall and weighing about 180 pounds, of fair complexion, grey eyes, black hair and a full beard.

After additional training with the new recruits, the company broke camp on April 30th to join General Sherman in the Atlanta campaign, participating in the fighting at Rome, Big Shanty, Kennesaw Mountain, and the destruction of the Augusts and Atlanta Railroad before entering the trenches at Atlanta on August 1st.

In a battle at Galesville, Ala. on October 21st, Burns was wounded.

Page 91

Hit by a musket ball below the knee, both bones of his left leg were fractured, and it was necessary to amputate the leg about six inches below the knee. On November 19, 1864 (the date of Lincoln's Gettysburg Address), he died of gangrene in a hospital in Chattanooga. He is buried in the National Cemetery there.

In notifying his brother of Burns' death, Captain C.L. Green, the company commander, wrote, "Sergt. Burns was with me when wounded and I assure you that no man fought braver than he did that day, and while I mourn his loss which to me is like losing a brother, it gives me a great satisfaction to mention his good conduct as a soldier and as a gentleman since I have been associated with him..."

Index

An index to Volume XVI of the Tredyffrin-Easttown History Club Quarterly is included on the last page of this issue.

The T-E History Club expresses its appreciation to Phyllis Parris for her assistance in preparing this issue for printing.