BUILDING THE COLONY 69 



sented two lots to the Brotherhood for the building, 

 and loaned them $2,000 at four per cent, to help erect 

 it. Brick, obtained on Goodman's farm, was bought, 

 and the colonists put up the building themselves, at 

 their own expense. It later became the property of 

 the whole community. 



The farmhouses were heated by wood fires, so a 

 wood-chopping and drying machine, to make kindling 

 wood both for the use of the settlers and for sale in 

 the markets of Philadelphia, was installed. In fact, 

 during the first years of Woodbine, you might see at 

 every corner countless piles of cord-wood, chopped by 

 the pioneer workers, ready for shipment to a firm in 

 Philadelphia. 



The farmers were a mixed class and came from 

 all parts of Russia Courland, South Russia, Polish 

 Russia (then) and Galicia, Austria. We had a dozen 

 families who would be a pride to any settlement, 

 especially the young people intelligent, wide-awake, 

 ambitious. To keep these, particularly, contented on 

 the farm and in the village, some great attraction must 

 be planned; the social side of the settler's lives must be 

 developed. My husband realized quickly enough that 

 it would be his duty to make life pleasant for them 

 and their families; and at the first opportunity that 

 afforded, our little house was made the social center. 



One Sunday in May, 1892, we were to entertain at 

 dinner the members of the Baron de Hirsch Committee 

 and their wives. It was the first time that the whole 



