A home with history

By Diane Prokop
Times Staff Writer

For students who attended Our Lady of Calvary School and walked home by way of Knights and Chalfont roads, the old farmhouse along Knights Road became a familiar if imposing landmark.
It was during those after-school trips home, or during walks to and from church for choir practice, when youngsters came to know the slope of the ground the stone house that towered over it, but it’s likely few ever knew just how old the house was or the history of the land that it’s on.
Now the place is for sale.
Regardless of the history, Fred Weiss loves his home of 25 years and doesn’t want to move, though his wife and daughter would like him to downsize.
"I love the old house. I like the ground. I like Calvary," he said.
More than anything, Weiss loves the land. It’s evident as he gives a tour past the inground pool and to a fenced area, a separate lot adjoining the property.
"I planted these apple trees from seed," he said, then stretched his arm to point out the boundaries of the property.
Weiss is selling the home, with its 18-inch-thick stone walls, original hardwood floors and two fireplaces, for $329,000. The sale price for the adjoining ground is $299,000. In all, the properties encompass 1.5 acres.
The farmhouse — the official address is 11041-11043-11045 Knights Road — is steeped in history. A stone in its upper right corner bears the year 1798. Though documented as the Reuben Parry house in Pat Worthington Stopper’s A Pictorial Glimpse into the Past and also in Take a Trip Through Time: Northeast Philadelphia Revisited, which was compiled by Lillian M. Lake and Harry C. Silcox, the books offered little more than a name.
While not much information could be found on Reuben Parry, the property is used often as a road marker of sorts in Charles Martindale’s A History of the Townships of Byberry and Moreland in Philadelphia, Pa., which was published in 1867.
Byberry Township, prior to its incorporation into the city in 1854, was composed of the land in the Northeast Philadelphia neighborhoods of Mechanicsville, Parkwood Manor, Modena Park, Millbrook, Crestmont Farms, Morrell Park and West Torresdale. It was settled by the Walton brothers in about 1683 and was named for their home in England, called Bibury.
Martindale talked about the types of homes in Byberry and noted that some homes, including that of Reuben Parry, "are quite ancient, although some of them have been modernized in their appearance."
The home and property are also referenced in sections of the book pertaining to one of the area’s most revered sons — Dr. Benjamin Rush, who was considered the father of American psychiatry, and his brother, the Honorable Judge Rush.
"The house in which they were born is still standing on the farm now owned by Reuben Parry," the book said.
Another entry reads, "Dr. Rush was born in the southern part of Byberry, at the house now occupied by Reuben Parry, on the 24th of December, 1745."
These mentions, however, do not prove that Rush was born in the Knights Road house, since Rush was born some 53 years prior to the date on the stone house. Instead, it offer more clues for further historical research. It is quite likely that another house was built somewhere on the property. ••
Charles Martindale’s "A History of the Townships of Byberry and Moreland in Philadelphia, Pa.," which was published in 1867, is available online at http://books.google.com/
Reporter Diane Prokop can be reached at 215-354-3036 or dprokop@phillynews.com