Happy Creek Farm: A lost Furness but a Lasting Legacy

"Happy Creek Farm"

The development and shaping of Philadelphia and the surrounding area was largely driven by the incredible industrial expansion of the city in the 19^th and early 20^th centuries.  This was a period of great commercial success that generated wealth for the companies and their owners of that time.  Philadelphia was a great manufacturing center, producing everything from Baldwin locomotives to Stetson hats.  Factories were ubiquitous in the city, and the mansions and estates of those who grew rich during this period were found within and outside the city.  Today, the industrial landscape of the city is greatly changed.  Many of the old factories are gone, replaced by parking lots, vacant tracts or other utilitarian construction.  Other factories still stand as abandoned and decaying relics of a long ago past.  The great estates of the city’s industrial giants that once dominated the Main Line and other areas around the city have also continued to largely fade from the landscape, replaced by shopping centers or housing developments that retain none of the charm and character of their great predecessors.   

One of the most important architects of Philadelphia’s Gilded Age was Frank Furness (1839-1912), who designed many beautiful and historic buildings in and around his hometown city. 

"Frank Furness"

Furness, who served in the Grand Army of the Republic during the Civil War and won the Congressional Medal of Honor, designed buildings for the Pennsylvania Railroad, the University of Pennsylvania and other institutions and companies, as well as homes for many of the areas elite families.  Sadly, many of Furness’ buildings and homes are now gone, having fallen victim to changing tastes and shifts in wealth over the years.  One of the great Furness homes stood on the estate at Happy Creek Farm in Newtown Township, Delaware County.

The relationship between Furness and Penn started with Charles Custis Harrison (b. 1844) who served as Provost there from 1894 to 1910.  Harrison has long ancestral roots in this area.  His family had established successful businesses in Pennsylvania dating back into the 18^th century.  He was a successful owner of the Franklin Sugar Refining Company, which he sold before becoming Provost at Penn.  In the early, 1890’s Harrison engaged Furness to design a country home for him and his family in Newtown Township, which he named Happy Creek Farm.  This estate was located on present day Darby-Paoli Rd where it intersects with Valley Forge Rd near Old St. David’s Church in Radnor Township. 

Harrison and his wife, Ellen Waln Harrison (b. 1846) and their six children spent a great deal of time at their country home.  The family also had a city residence on Locust St near Rittenhouse Square.  In addition to the Furness House, Harrison’s son Harry also built a home on the grounds of the estate in 1913.  But as the family aged and moved on, interest in maintaining Happy Creek Farm seemed to wane.  Followed by the death of Ellen Harrison in 1922 and Charles Harrison in 1929, their mansion went largely unoccupied and joined the growing list of lost Furness homes when it was demolished in 1937.  Eventually, Harry Harrison moved from their mansion at Happy Creek Farm to New Jersey and this house sat empty until it was demolished in 1968, shortly after his death.

Fortunately, all was not lost at Happy Creek Farm.  There was a stone house on the grounds that dated back to 1776, predating other construction on the estate by more than 100 years.  This structure was extended at least twice over its history, and was the home of Harry Harrison’s son, Roberts (now deceased).  This house survives today as a private residence.  The larger Harrison land holdings also

"Rock Rose Estate"

included the Paper Mill House (built in 1828), which stands across St Davids Rd from the stone house.  Roberts Harrison donated this historical building to Newtown Township and it was eventually restored and now serves a museum.  There are also stone barn structures that date back to the time of Happy Creek Farm that survive today as part of a private residence.  Nearby in Radnor, Rock Rose, the estate mansion of Edward Rowland and his wife Esther Harrison Rowland (daughter of Charles and Ellen Harrison) was built in1912 to serve as their home along with their two daughters.  Tragically, Edward Rowland died just after the home was built and in 1916 his wife decided to lease the home to long time tenant Lucile Carter, a survivor of the Titanic disaster.  Sadly, Esther Harrison Rowland died in 1919, leaving two young daughters without parents.  Rock Rose still exists today as a private residence.

"Dorothy Lieb Harrison"

Perhaps even more impressive than the historic architectural legacy that remains from the Harrison family is the surviving legacy of Charles and Ellen’s youngest child, Dorothy.  Dorothy Lieb Harrison was born May 30, 1886 in Philadelphia.  She attended the Agnes Irwin School for Girls in Radnor, and later attended school in England. In 1906, she married Walter A. Wood at Old St David’s Church, just across the road from the entry to Happy Creek Farm.  She lived with her husband and two children in upstate New York where they developed breeding programs for cattle.  Tragically, her husband died of typhoid fever in 1915.  At the time, her sons were only 8 and 1 years of age.  Dorothy would eventually marry again, in 1923, to a younger polo player name George Eustis.  After their marriage, they lived in Switzerland and began breeding German Shepherds and training them to serve as police dogs. 

In 1927, Dorothy wrote an article that was published in the Saturday Evening Post that told the story of her of her time in Germany at a school that trained dogs to assist soldiers who had been blinded during the first World War.  At the time, this was a very novel and innovative idea, and there was a massive response to her article back in America.  Eventually, Dorothy received a particularly passionate and moving letter from a young blind man in Tennessee named Morris Frank.   Apparently this letter served in the inspiration to establish The Seeing Eye, an institute for the training of dogs to assist in the lives of the blind.  After divorcing her second husband, she launched this effort in New Jersey, where the organization still exists today, having placed more than 16,000 dogs with those in need over the course of its history.  Dorothy Harrison Eustis remained active in the organization up to the time of her death in 1946.

Dorothy, Morris Frank and his seeing eye dog.

Today, Happy Creek Farm is no more, lost to history.  The original stone entry to the Harrison estate still stands, serving as an entry to a housing development unfortunately named “Harrison,” which is populated with several dozen very large homes with repetitive, soulless designs.  The Seeing Eye continues its work to partner trained dogs with the visually impaired, true to its original purpose of enhancing the lives of the visually disabled.  Dorothy Harrison was born into a life of wealth and privilege, which she took as an opportunity to improve the lives of others.  Today, Seeing Eye dogs are known the world over and the concept of guide dogs and other assistance pets has gained global recognition.  Most of her money went into The Seeing Eye, and thanks to careful management the organization has been financially sound since its founding.  However, the story of Dorothy Harrison and her contributions to the world are largely unknown, lost to the world along with the memory of her childhood home at Happy Creek Farm.

Information for this article was obtained from The Newtown Township Historical Society, The Radnor Historical Society, The Seeing Eye, The Saturday Evening Post, Wikipedia, and other internet sources.