Historic Waynesborough Preserves 18th Century Sheffield Silver with Help from DAR

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Historic Preservation Grants program has helped preserve eight historically significant pieces of silver.

Before and after photos of a tea caddy, one of eight pieces preserved.

One set of candlesticks that was preserved make up the mantel display in honor of Revolutionary War hero, Major General Anthony Wayne, in the Blue Parlor of Historic Waynesborough.

A close-up of the hot water urn in the dining room of Historic Waynesborough.

FHW receives recognition from Jeptha Abbott DAR: Jeptha Abbott Chapter, NSDAR, Chair of Historic Preservation, Val Vastine-Orbell, awards an NSDAR Historic Preservation Award to Michelle Lois Bradley, President, Friends of Historic Waynesborough, Cheryl Harper, Secretary, Tiffany Cherry, Kathy Schwartz, Treasurer. Not pictured: Vice President, Linda Hawley, Lynne Anderson, Katharine Campbell, Sandra Ormerod.

AWF receives recognition from Jeptha Abbott DAR: Jeptha Abbott Chapter, NSDAR, Chair of Historic Preservation, Val Vastine-Orbell, awards an NSDAR Historic Preservation Award to Laura Lewis, President, Anthony Wayne Foundation. Not pictured: Vice President, Lynne Anderson.

PAOLI, PA: The Jeptha Abbott Chapter of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) helped fund a preservation effort of silver items at Historic Waynesborough, the house museum of General Anthony Wayne, 2049 Waynesborough Road, Paoli, PA.

Eight Sheffield silver objects are part of Major General Anthony Wayne’s purchase, descended in the Wayne family from Anthony Wayne and his son, Isaac, to subsequent generations, that are on display at Historic Waynesborough. They were made in England by an early process of fusing a thin sheet of silver over copper. In the past, as the objects were used and routinely polished, areas of the thin silver layer were abraded; some led to a complete loss of silver and the copper was exposed. On exhibit at Waynesborough, it is desirable to present these objects with a polished silver surface, without tarnish. However, left in the open, silver tarnishes, and even very gentle polishing removes some silver, so to best preserve the objects, there should be minimal polishing.

Friends of Historic Waynesborough contacted the Winterthur Museum outside of Wilmington, DE, to learn how they addressed this problem with their collection. Winterthur conservators use a process and materials to be able to display Winterthur’s silver collection in polished condition without tarnishing. This same process of cleaning, polishing, and coating Winterthur’s pieces was applied to Historic Waynesborough’s Sheffield silver. The completed conserved objects will maintain their polished appearance for the “life” of the coating, estimated at 20-30 years in a climate-controlled museum environment, with careful, minimal handling of the objects with gloves. At that time, it is possible to reverse the coating and repeat the process.

“We are grateful for the Friends of Historic Waynesborough and Anthony Wayne Foundation for their ongoing preservation of the items in this historic place,” said Jeptha Abbott Chapter Regent Teri Fischer. “To have these items professionally cleaned, polished, and coated, they can be continuously displayed in the same manner as when the Waynes used them to entertain their guests.” As these objects are on continual display in the home, they will no longer require annual polishing to remove the tarnish. These items are some of the most visible pieces in this home.

The Jeptha Abbott Chapter, NSDAR, then awarded both the Friends of Historic Waynesborough and the Anthony Wayne Foundation Historic Preservation Medals, recognizing and honoring these groups who have done extraordinary volunteer work over a long period of time in preserving Historic Waynesborough as a local landmark and preserving objects of historic cultural significance.

Historic Waynesborough is open for tours Thursday through Sunday, from 1:00 pm until 3:00 pm April through mid-December. Visit https://historicwaynesborough.org/visitors/ for more information. Historic Waynesborough is most famously known as the home and birthplace of Revolutionary War General Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796), who was born on the property in 1745. In 1777, General Anthony Wayne fought in the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown before being encamped at Valley Forge, a mere five miles from Waynesborough. General Wayne’s most brilliant war exploit was successfully storming the British fort at Stony Point, New York (July 16, 1779). This feat gave a massive boost in morale to the American armies. Wayne earned the name “Mad Anthony” because of his tactical boldness and personal courage in the field. In 1792, Wayne was promoted to first Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Army, a position he held until his death in 1796. In addition, he served as a delegate to the state convention that ratified the United States Constitution in 1788. At the end of his career and life, General Wayne was appointed by President George Washington to lead a campaign of western expansion into the Ohio Territory. Wayne’s victory at the Battle of Fallen Timbers in 1794 was the final battle in the Northwest Indian War that led to a century of settler colonialism on behalf of the United States Government.

Easttown Township has owned the sixteen-acre property and historic house since 1980 and leases the buildings to PhilaLandmarks, the organization that has been administering, preserving, and supporting Historic Waynesborough since 1980. The Anthony Wayne Foundation, established in 1985, has helped furnish Waynesborough and returned many original Wayne family objects from descendants. The Friends of Historic Waynesborough have been raising money to support many projects there since 1999. For more information on Historic Waynesborough, go to https://historicwaynesborough.org/.

The mission of Historic Waynesborough, which does business as the Friends of Historic Waynesborough, is to (1) help manage and finance the operations of the historic property called Historic Waynesborough, (2) promote the historical importance of Major General Anthony Wayne, and (3) preserve, display and interpret “Waynesborough,” his ancestral home, its collections and property representing seven generations of the Wayne family.

The National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) is a women’s service organization whose members can trace their lineage to an individual who contributed to securing American independence during the Revolutionary War. Today’s DAR is dynamic and diverse, with over 185,000 members in 3,000 chapters in the United States and abroad. DAR members annually provide millions of hours of volunteer service to their local communities across the country and the world. In addition, DAR chapters participate in projects to promote historic preservation, education, and patriotism. Over one million members have joined the organization since its founding in 1890. Go to www.dar.org. For additional information on the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution Historic Preservation Grants program, visit https://www.dar.org/national-society/dar-historic-preservation-grants. To learn more about DAR membership, visit Jeptha Abbott DAR.