J.T.LOVETT, LITTLE J~I LVEfV, N. J. 



THE OLD HOMESTEAD 



"How dear to my heart are the scenes of my childhood." 



Since the appearance of the lines entitled "Looking Backward" in the last edition of my catalog of Hardy Peren- 

 nial plants, several kind friends have asked for further information concerning the place of my birth and those scenes 

 of my early struggles. 



The weakness to give undue thought 

 to geneology is doubtless largely de- 

 veloped in the Lovett family, for, from 

 my earliest recollection, I have heard 

 of family trees, pedigrees and lines of 

 descent, affording myself, with some 

 others, much amusement. One member 

 of the family claims to have traced 

 back our ancestors to one who was a 

 close friend of William the Conqueror; 

 another says he has proved the family 

 ^ ^^^m time to have owned the estate 



^^^^HBH^^'^ % of Haddon Hall, etc., etc. The fact, 



JHHp^ " however, has been definitely established 



gBtf^^S that my paternal progenitor came to 



^^P^W ~ . ,::u„ ™ „ ^p; | |t | fe a|»| ^||g „ America with William Penn on his sec- 



ond voyage. 



There were three of these Lovett 

 brothers, Daniel, James and John. The 

 two last named settled upon the New 

 Jersey side of the Delaware river, and 

 Daniel, from whom our branch of the 

 family descended, was awarded a grant 

 of several thousand acres upon the 



west, or Pennsylvania side. The old Lovett homestead is still standing near Emilie, Bucks Co., Pa., and is still owned 

 by a member of the Lovett family. The house in which my father was born is located near Fallsington, Pa., these 

 two villages being separated by about four miles, though both houses stand on what was originally the Lovett tract — 

 the custom in "ye olden times" being to divide an estate into equal portions among the sons of each generation; the 

 many divisions and sub-divisions of the Lovett grant having left the two farms referred to, at the time of my father's 

 birth in 1801, with but about 200 acres each. 



The house in which I was born was built by Robert Scott in 1812, at Scott's Landing, Penn's Manor, Pa., on a 

 farm of some 250 acres, known as "Ash Mead." This farm was never a part of the Lovett grant, however. The 

 halftone engraving above is from a water color painting of the old Scott homestead, made twenty-five years ago by a 

 dear friend, who was a deskmate while I was learning to master the mysteries of the nursery business at the Rum- 

 son Nurseries. The large willow tree shown at the left of the picture grew from a branch used as a riding whip and 

 thrust into the ground by my maternal grandfather, Hector Thompson, at the time the house was being built. 



My father died when I was ten years old, and at the age of sixteen I assumed the management of Ash Mead 

 Farm. Oh! how times have changed since then! The farm was devoted to growing farm crops and dairy products. 

 I remember so well that everyone, including all the "men folks" at least, was obliged to be down stairs at 5 o'clock 

 every day of the year. When not in school, it was my "painful duty" to take the milk to the train (we shipped it to 

 Philadelphia) each day, and in winter it was still dark when I went those two lonely miles and back before breakfast. 

 To say it was "bitter cold" some mornings does not half express it. I am sure I never before or since felt the cold 

 so severely ; in very truth, it makes me shiver yet when I think of it. 



Strange as it may seem, "our folks," in common with our neighbors, gave little thought or attention to a 

 garden ; though our family was large, and nearly all the "hired help" — a considerable force of men and boys and several 

 "hired girls" — was given board upon the farm. Hence I was regarded as being, in a measure, wrong in my head, when ui ad- 

 dition to growing vegetables in large variety and perfection, I planted berries and flowers also. I recall very clearly 

 my first planting of the small fruits. I bought the plants of Mahlon Moon, Morrisville, Pa., and in the lot were the 

 Wilson and Kittatinny Blackberries, the Nicanor, Agriculturist and Jucunda Strawberries — all novelties at that time. 

 In addition, Joseph L. Lovett of Emilie gave me a quantity of the Philadelphia Raspberry from the old Lovett home- 

 stead. Everything succeeded admirably and my neighbors were forced to admit, though I was so foolish as to 

 "bother with" flowers, that my berries were "splendid" and really wonderful. Catalogs were my only teachers and 

 from them I acquired sufficient information to enable me to become a skillful grafter. (Too bad I did not become 

 a politician or a public official!) 



During these years I felt compelled by duty to devote at least twelve hours each day to the affairs of the farm 

 and would seldom permit myself to give any time to my garden except in the evening, after the "men folks" had left 

 the fields. This, however, was my recreation, and pure, sweet, delicious recreation it was indeed. All these years, 

 while engaged upon the farm or driving upon the road, it was my constant wish and hope that I might engage in the 

 nursery business. Learning that A. Hance & Son, proprietors of the Rumson Nurseries, Red Bank, N. J., were in 

 need of an office assistant, I applied for the position. A reply soon came to the effect that as they had been un- 

 fortunate with young men, they had decided in future to employ only elderly ones in their office. I was then 19, and 

 with this encouragement I at once started off alone, reaching my destination at 12 o'clock at night, January 10, 1872, 

 in a snow storm. I remained with these good people for six years; in fact, I have been in the same neighborhood 

 ever since that memorable January 10th, save for a part of one year when I was associated with the lamented Rev. 

 E. P. Roe, the author, at Cornwall-on-the-Hudson. In the autumn of 1878 I sent out the first catalog of the Mon- 

 mouth Nursery, and in 1888 I purchased the Rumson Nurseries which first tutored me for my life work, and merged 

 them with the nurserv I had established. 



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