Person:Mary McAnlis (1)

Watchers
Mary McAnlis
b.1901 PA
d.Est 29 Dec 1986
m. 24 Jun 1925
Facts and Events
Name Mary McAnlis
Gender Female
Birth? 1901 PA
Marriage 24 Jun 1925 PAto Wright Raymond Hawkins
Death? Est 29 Dec 1986

Social Security Death Index about May Hoffmaster Name: May Hoffmaster SSN: 161-50-3844 Last Residence: 16102 New Castle, Lawrence, Pennsylvania, United States of America Born: 18 May 1900 Died: Dec 1986 State (Year) SSN issued: Pennsylvania (1973)


200 years don't knock the "rock" of aging farm


         With the Bicentennial drawing closer, most Americans thoughts are turning to the Revolutionary period but few have the opportunity to live on a 200-year-old farm.
         Mr. aid Mrs. Wright Hoffmaster of Mount Jackson have that chance, however, and have been living on a farm which has been in their family for six generations. Their 21-room house sits on a farm first laid out in 1797. Right out of "Drums Along the Mohawk," the house has 11-foot ceilings and a variety of fireplaces.
         The Hoffmasters don't take the home for granted, but they're a little embarrassed about all the publicity they get through the house.
         It's all right to write up the place,” Hoffmaster said, ‘but were were not special. We just live here."
         Mrs. Hoffmaster is the real historian of the farm. Through a collection of letters, diaries, a family Bible and a history book she has pieced the story of the farm together since the tale began in 1790.
         In two centuries, the farm and its owners have been enmeshed in the grain of America's history - and its wars.
          In 1786, William Kelly Jr., a soldier in the Revolutionary War was given the farm for his services in the Army. But he found the land undesirable, Mrs. Hoffmaster said, and sold it twice before one of her ancestors finally brought it.
         Edward Wright, bought the farm in 1790 by trading his horse saddle and bridle. His parents in New Jersey didn't think the investment as too proper and he was soundly berated” for the purchase, Mrs. Hoffmaster said.
         But three years later, he and seven friends looked for the land and Wright eventually built a log cabin on it.
         Wright and his wife Abigail lived on the farm and Mrs. Hoffmaster still has a letter he wrote her during the War of 1812, in which he served as a Major.
         John Williams, the husband of their only daughter, Sarah, was also in the war. It was their son, William, who eventually built the large barn in 1860 and the home where the Hoffmasters now live.
         And one of the Williams' daughters began the line of Hoffmaster's to live there. Lizzie Williams married Albert Hoffmaster to become the first of four generations to follow.
         Just as a historical sidelight - one which rounds out the family’s involvement in America - one of Lizzie's brothers was killed in the Second Battle of Bull Run, in 1862.
         Stepping onto the Hoffmaster's farm is like visiting Williamsburg, Old Economy or any other historically preserved place. The large barn is 110-feet long by 50-feet wide and its frame was put together with wooden pins, going back to a time when nails were less common than now.
         The house itself is a tribute to its constructor. Besides the high ceilings, the woodwork throughout the house is done entirely in walnut and chestnut taken from the trees of the farm. The walls are three-bricks, which Hoffmaster thinks is one of the homes biggest features. 
         He explained that between the first layer of bricks and the second two is an air hole. This keeps the room warm in the winter cool in the summer despite the high ceilings.
         The walls also have another good feature in that they give a little.

New Castle News (New Castle, Pennsylvania) 25 January 1975