The United States celebrated its 200th birthday in Philadelphia on July 4th, 1976. The Bicentennial was a stone in the pond, whose ripples continue to be felt. The ripples reached to Oak Lodge on Middletown Road in Gradyville, where long-time resident Jane Levis Carter had been keeping research notes and records on Edgmont Township since her childhood. Born in 1909, she recalled hearing local history the old fashioned way, from conversations among customers in the busy nearby general store. The Bicentennial announcement spurred her to action with her lifetime of research – she began to weave it all together for a planned book.
With no Internet, she researched in local libraries, reviewing documents, maps, photos and records. But she also talked with people: “I’ve talked to six generations of people and their memories go way back. The oldest woman I talked to was Mrs. Lydia Ann Baker. She was born in 1838.”
Jane’s previous writing effort was a book of poetry published in 1966. She tried to infuse her history book with the same style: “I think it is documentarily accurate, but written with poetry and lyricism.” Her book, “Edgmont: The Story of a Township” was published in 1976, just in time for the Bicentennial.
Long-time Edgmont resident Bob Steiner met Jane several years before her death in 2004, as he had questions about his historic home. He remembers her as “a lovely lady, passionate for what she did.” He asked whether she was a Quaker – because of the Quaker values that permeate her book, and still seem to be rooted in the Township. Interviewed in 1976, Jane described what she found in the writing effort:
“I found my own book screaming back at me, saying “Look at what we’ve lost”. …There is a tremendous lesson to be learned here. Somehow we must find this sense of purpose again. Through the book I see that the great strengths of the past have been when man was unified with a common purpose. We need to find that again.”
It’s a timely lesson for today’s generations as well. There is currently no historical society or other group dedicated to the preservation of the stories and history of Edgmont. If we take any value from Jane’s effort, it is that our local history has value and should be preserved and passed down from generation to generation. Are there current or former Edgmont residents who would be willing to meet and talk about creating such a group, dedicated to gathering and preserving the Township history, and teaching it to the next generations of Edgmont residents? If that appeals to you, I would love to hear from you and see if we can get a group of like-minded citizens together and talk about what might be possible. Please contact me at doughumes@alumni.psu.edu or call or text me at 610-724-7222, and let’s see if we can honor the life and work of Jane Levis Carter, and plant some seeds that may yield a new crop of Edgmont historians!