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The Garden at Wyck
I
1689-1760
We have no written documentation of the garden
under the first owner, Hans Millan, a Swiss Quaker, who purchased
the land in 1689. We do know that his daughter, Margaret and her
husband, Dirk Janson, lived on the property full time and we can
expect that they had gardens for their own use. Judging by contemporary
home gardens they probably grew vegetables and fruit trees, herbs
for cooking and medicinal use and even a few flowers.
1760 - 1794
The property was rented to tenant farmers during
this time. There are no known records.
1794 - 1814
Casper Wistar Haines (1762-1801), great, great-grandson
of Hans Millan, moved his wife, Hannah Marshal Haines, (1765-1828),
and their family to Germantown. His mother, Margaret Wistar Haines,
had died in Philadelphia, of Yellow Fever during the epidemic
the year before and he wished to remove his family to a healthier
climate. He made quite a few improvements to the property including
building a brewhouse, barn, and updating the house with stucco.
The first reference to the
garden at Wyck is in letters written by the fifth owner, Hannah
to her son, Reuben. Over a period of four months, beginning in
January 1797, she describes a "productive garden filled with vegetables
and fruit trees". Her letters also document Casper's purchase
of 100 fruit trees, using cold frames for seedlings and laying
tan bark on the garden paths.
1814 - 1843, Reuben Haines
III and Jane Bowne Haines
After Casper's death in 1801, his son Reuben dedicated himself
to " ...self education particularly in the Academy of Natural
Sciences, the Franklin Institute, The Pennsylvania Horticultural
Society and the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture;
to public service, notably in the implementation of school reform;
to the financial sponsorship of struggling artists and philosophers
including Rembrandt Peale and Bronson Alcott; and to the creation
of a healthy, happy and stimulating home for his family".
He married Jane Bowne (1790-1843) and they began
summering at Wyck in 1814. Once again we have letters as documentation.
Jane describes the vegetable gardens and fruit trees, the shady
yard where her daughter could play but laments the lack of an
ornamental garden.
1821-1827, Jane's notebook
During these years Jane kept a small notebook
in which she recorded details of the garden including the sketch
above and lists of rose plantings begun in 1818 at the latest.
Several of these roses are still evident at Wyck today. Reuben
added notes to the notebook and created a Catalogue of Plants
at Wyck, 5 mo. 9 1825.
Their children:
•Three daughters, Elizabeth, Hannah and Margaret, married,
taking slips of Wyck's roses to their new homes
•Son, Robert founded his own commercial nursery in Cheltenham,
PA. Named Cheltenham Nurseries it remained in business until 1935.
•Son John S. Haines, lived at and created gardens in what
is now "Awbury", a public arboretum in Philadelphia.
•Daughter, Jane Reuben Haines lived at Wyck, maintaining
the gardens until her death in 1911
1875- early 1911
Jane Reuben Haines was an invalid and relied on gardeners to care
for the grounds at Wyck. She made little written reference to
the gardens and our information comes from photographs taken during
this time. Among other things they show the change from elaborate
Victorian fashion to the simpler garden style of Colonial Revival.
1911-1935
As Jane became older her nephew Casper Wistar Haines II (1835-1935)
and his sister Jane Bowne Haines II took over responsibility for
Wyck. Casper lived here from 1912 to 1935, keeping a detailed
diary. We know that he planted vegetables and fruit trees and
created the grape arbor and the tulips beds in the front yard.
He built a new green house and won horticulture prizes. He was
involved with various historic houses in Germantown and traded
cuttings with them. He maintained the rose garden, adding new
hybrids.
Jane helped her brother with Wyck and also founded
the School of Horticulture for Women, which is now part of the
Ambler Campus of Temple University.
1935 - 1973
After the death of Casper, his nephew, Robert Bowne Haines and
wife, Mary, became the ninth generation to own Wyck. Robert was
a professional nurseryman who wintered at Wyck leaving the maintenance
to various gardeners. As a result the gardens declined and when
Mary left the property in trust it was a tangle of roses and vines.
The boxwood was 6 feet tall.
1973 - today
Ann Newlin Thompson, a horticulturist and tenth Generation descendant
of the Wyck families began a program to reclaim the gardens. She
pruned the boxwood, removed the vines, and supervised students
and graduates of the Temple University School of Horticulture
in caring for the rose garden, lawns, wood lot and vegetable garden.
This work continues today as this living link to our past still
delights and educates us.
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