The Yews in Elizabeth Haddon's Garden — By wilhelm Miller, 



New 

 York 



TS NOT this the largest yew tree in 

 -*- America?" wrote Samuel N. Rhoads, 

 an antiquarian of Haddonfield, when he 

 sent a copy of the picture on this page to 

 Professor Charles Sprague Sargent, Di- 

 rector of the Arnold Arboretum. "It is 

 about thirty feet high, has a spread of 

 seventy feet, and the trunk is over four 

 feet in diameter." 



As a hater of the ephemeral style 

 of American gardening, which takes no 

 thought of succeeding generations, and as a 

 lover of 4,000-year-old yews, such as they 

 have in England, I determined to see this 

 noble evergreen tree, which had survived 

 the wars, fires and neglect of two centuries, 

 and find out why some enterprising real 

 estate dealer had not cut it down and re- 

 placed it by a Lombardy poplar guaran- 

 teed to last ten years. I tracked Mr. 

 Rhoads to his lair, in a thick city atmos- 

 phere of old books on natural history and 

 gardening and dragged my new-found 

 friend into the garish light of Market 

 Street, Philadelphia, whence we took the 

 ferry to New Jersey, and a train which 

 brought us in less than half an hour to 

 the suburban community known as Had- 

 donfield, N. J. 



Even from the station we could glimpse 

 the fine old country place known as "Had- 



don Hall of Haddonfield, N. J.," which 

 stands aloof in mute but dignified protest 

 against the wilderness of " suburban homes" 

 rising on every side, with all their atro- 

 cious but typical features, e. g., tinder- 

 box construction, bad proportion, etc. 



Turning our back on these "improve- 

 ments" we took the road to yesterday and 

 soon saw looming ahead of us a dignified 

 old brick mansion framed by ancient trees 

 which command the entire landscape by 

 reason of the gentle eminence (about ten 

 feet) on which the house stands. By con- 

 trast with a typical American suburb, the 

 house seems all that can be desired for per- 

 manence, style, and proportion; and it 

 certainly nestles beautifully among the 

 venerable native trees which surround it, 

 instead of standing out in sharp contrast, 

 like a modern house that is surrounded by 

 showy cut-leaved, weeping, and variegated 

 foreign trees. A second look, however, 

 indicated that the house is of a city, rather 

 than a country type, since it recalls the 

 characteristic Philadelphia brick house of 

 red brick with marble trimmings. It is 

 no wonder that the Londoner feels at home 

 in Philadelphia, for he has seen this type of 

 house before, and when the Philadelphian 

 goes to London he feels at home, too, be- 

 cause he finds around Russell Square 



houses that are reminiscent of his own 

 Independence Hall. But in 1842, when 

 the present house was built, Americans 

 knew no better than to build city houses 

 in the country, as cockneys do to-day. 

 And Downing was just lifting his voice in 

 favor of any style of architecture which 

 blends with a rural landscape, and is 

 genuinely adapted to country conditions 

 of labor, life and customs. 



The present Haddon Hall marks the 

 site of the second house built by the original 

 Elizabeth Haddon in 17 13, when, as the 

 wife of John Estaugh, she became mistress 

 of the most famous centre of hospitality 

 in the southern part of New Jersey. Her 

 original home was a pioneer dwelling a 

 mile away to which she came in 1700 about 

 the time of William Penn's second visit to 

 America. Her nerve has been the wonder 

 and delight of every succeeding generation, 

 for she answered the unmistakable inward 

 voice of the Quaker by leaving the com- 

 fortable home of a prosperous London 

 anchorsmith, crossed the ocean "alone" 

 (for she had only two servants with her), 

 and settled in this forest wilderness. Her 

 collateral descendants through her sister's 

 marriage now form a respectable army of 

 devoted admirers. 



There is no way of hinting at her ro- 



European yews 200 years old at Haddonfield. N. J. They were brought from England by Elizabeth Haddon. the "maiden pioneer" of the Quakers, in 1700. 



The trained box bushes are about 10x10 ft. The yew on the left may be the largest in America 



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