i8 
served as the capital of the nation, before the days of Fanny 
and with all its barrenness and dreariness, Germantown had 
wide expanse of smiling background, and purple distant 
horizon, was there with its mean-looking, scattered farm 
houses, and large ungainly barns, (whatever may have been 
its agricultural merits), uninteresting, and uninviting in all 
the human elements ot the landscape, dreary in Summer, 
desolate in Winter, and absolutely void of the civilized 
cheerful charms which should have belonged to it." 
Fortuntely we know the impressions recorded were 
neither complete nor entirely correct, for here there were 
fine houses and gardens before the visit of Deane. Upon 
Wingohocken, Cresheim, and Wissahickon creeks, important 
paper, oyle, grist, and fuller mills, were in successful opera- 
tion long before "The Picture of Philadelphia" appeared, 
Kemble. In spite of the deficiencies of the Town, a line ot 
stages passed through it, markets were held, tanneries 
flourished, and opposite "Indian Queen Lane," the printing 
house of Christopher Saur had ably served the common- 
wealth, — for the products of this house were distributed 
throughout the entire German settlements of the valleys of 
Wissahickon, Stony, Skippack, Indian, Perkiomen, Swamp, 
Tulpehocken, Swatara, Cocalico and Conestoga creeks, — 
throughout the country from Lehigh River to Susquehanna 
River, from Snow Hill, Maryland, to the mountains of 
central New York, a positive, powerful, influence for the 
elevation of its patrons, and if we believe disinterested 
observers as believe we must, Germantown from the first was 
an important, busy, developing, intelligent community. 
As indicative of its thought, in it November 17, 1741, 
upon the main road near present Manheim Street, was born 
Adam Kuhn, who in the year 1761 was sent to Sweden, 
where he was trained under the celebrated Linnaeus, who to 
his pupil dedicated the genus Kuhnia. Upon Kuhn's return 
to America he practiced medicine, and in the Philadelphia 
College, became the first professor of botany in America. 
Among important visitors to Germantown during the 
