For collector, owning
historic box has its price

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

Timing is everything.
About 40 years ago, Mayfair resident Pat Palumbo decided to catch a quick smoke outside the Italian American Social Club, the West Philly bar where he worked. Once outside, he witnessed the mugging of an older man and went to the victim’s aid.
The man, a retired osteopathic doctor who was a regular at the Felton and Race streets establishment where Palumbo tended bar, later rewarded him with what Palumbo thought was a cigar box. It was made of dark wood, inlaid on top with a lighter-color wood in the shape of a liberty shield.
The doctor told Palumbo the shield was made from a piece of "the Treaty Elm" — the legendary elm tree that marked the spot where, in 1683, William Penn and the Lenape Indians signed a treaty of friendship at Shackamaxon, now Penn Treaty Park in Fishtown.
The mighty tree, which measured 24 feet in circumference, was felled by a storm in 1810. Wood from the monument to friendship was made into furniture, canes and other keepsakes, such as the box presented to Chief Justice John Marshall by Quaker philanthropist Roberts Vaux.
Palumbo took his box out of storage a few years ago and noticed an inscription, written with graphite, on a thin piece of wood inside the box lid that was used to hold a photograph or mirror in place: The Liberty Shield in the top is from the Elm Treaty Tree, Kensington. H. Manderson, June 8th 1865.
It was last fall that Palumbo, a retired home remodeler, contacted the Times after reading an article about the Historical Society of Frankford, hoping he might learn more about his treasure.
Ken Milano, a local historian, genealogist and columnist for the Star and Home News newspapers, which are sister publications of the Times, authenticated the box.
"The fact that the item was constructed or at least inscribed at the end of the Civil War, and with the design it had, a liberty shield, with a piece of the treaty tree imbedded in it, would have made a great symbol in those days for peace, i.e., the end of the war," Milano said in
December, adding that the box’s inscription and his other research convinced him that it’s "the real McCoy."
Barry S. Slosberg, of Barry S. Slosberg Inc. Appraisers and Auctioneers, was quite familiar with the Treaty Elm and the many artifacts made from the famous tree. Accordingly, Slosberg valued the box at between $100 and $175.
The liberty shield was worth much more than that to local historian John J. Connors.
Connors, a Father Judge High School grad, has been intrigued with the Treaty Elm since the 1970s, when he bought a home near Penn Treaty Park.
"I got involved trying to expand Penn Treaty Park, which we did, expanding it by five additional acres of ground . . . we purchased and developed the land along the waterfront," he said of the community effort. "Now it is a beautiful oasis."
In 1981, he started to research the tree and Shackamaxon.
"I was completely fascinated by the story," recalled Connors, now a resident of Moorestown, N.J.
He was in his late 20s when he became involved with Penn Treaty Park and learned much from elder community-spirited residents and historians.
In 1982, Dr. Etta May Pettyjohn not only gave Connors his first elm treaty-related item in his collection — a print by Benjamin West — but also inspired him to create a Web museum (check out www.penntreatymuseum.org) as a tribute to the peaceful message of the Penn Treaty.
"Since then, anytime I saw anything related to it, I would acquire it," Connors said.
His collections include unique items from the United States, England, France, Italy and Germany.
"The William Penn treaty with the Indians caught the attention of people from around the world. However, I had never known of any boxes around," Connors said.
That changed last fall when he saw the Times article about Palumbo’s box.
"When I read about this box, with the original elm being used for the liberty shield, I was just fascinated. There it was . . . and I wanted to add it to this collection," Connors said.
He reached out to the Times to make contact with Palumbo.
Palumbo told Connors that he didn’t know what the box was worth — he wasn’t even sure he wanted to sell the keepsake, since he’d planned to give it to his daughter for his grandson.
Connors offered Palumbo $1,000 for the box. When Palumbo mentioned that his daughter had suggested he post the box on eBay with a minimum bid of $3,000, money that possibly could be used for his grandson’s college fund, Connors had some thinking to do.
He visited Palumbo the next day with $3,000.
"I just kind of walked in on him. He was home and we got to talking. Now I have it," Connors said of the coveted box.
The proceeds from the box — a curious reward given to Palumbo for that good deed four decades ago — will go to his grandson Roman, who just turned 1.
"I love the child," he said.
Not only did the sale come in time for a birthday present — it came in time for the 325th anniversary of Penn’s Treaty. Connors said the box will be on display with other Penn Treaty and park memorabilia this weekend — 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 to 5 p.m. on Sunday — at 315 E. Allen St., adjacent to Penn Treaty Park. The online museum also will be officially introduced. ••
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com