The Devon Dog Show (and a four-legged war veteran) May 29, 1919 In March of 1919, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported that "with the Bryn Mawr Hospital chosen as beneficiary, and the dates selected, plans [were] rapidly being completed for the 1919 Devon Victory Horse Show and Fair." The event was to be the "principal out-of door social event for Decoration Day." Many new activities were planned, including an old-fashioned thatched-roof market, a rummage sale, a specialty hat shop, a doll store, a raffle, a baby show, AND a dog show. The one-day, all-breed dog show was run by Mrs. Edward B. Cassatt of Chesterbrook Farm. Twenty-two different varieties and over 100 canines participated in the event. The first image shows Marie Louise Wanamaker Munn (Mrs. Gurnee Munn) and friends with her German Shepherd, named "Staff." Staff was apparently the center of attraction partly because he won his class, but mainly because of his background. The Inquirer reported that the German Shepherd had been in active service in France for over three years. He had originally been owned by a German officer and had two German medals. He then changed sides to the Allied cause and won for himself a French medal. Mrs. Munn's husband brought the dog back with him after serving himself for 18 months in the war. Staff had been wounded three times. The Inquirer described Mrs. Munn's attire in detail. She wore a "rather novel sports coat of raspberry pink made with a sailor collar of the same shade finished with a fringe of the cloth. She wore a straw colored hat with a narrow wreath of red currants. A novelty silk shirt was wore on this occasion." Marie Louise Wanamaker Munn and and her German Shepherd Staff is also visible on the left side of the second Dog Show photo. ++++++++++++++ Note: Marie Louise Wanamaker Munn was the daughter of Rodman Wanamaker and the granddaughter of Ex-Postmaster General John Wanamaker. In 1915, she married Gurnee Munn, son of Charles A. Munn of Washington, D.C. They lived in Radnor Township, in Washington D.C., and in Palm Beach. They divorced in 1933. The home they built in Palm Beach was purchased in 2015 by Dr. Mehmet Oz and his wife Liza. Sources: "Devon Horse Show to be Biggest Yet," Philadelphia Inquirer, May 19, 1919, p. 15. "Horse Show Plans," Philadelphia Inquirer, April 6, 1929, p. 37. "At Devon Show," Philadelphia Inquirer, May 30, 1919, p. 2. "Smartly Clad Women," Philadelphia Inquirer, June 1, 1919, p. 38. Images: 1) Mrs. Gurnee Munn and "Staff" with Friends at the Devon Dog Show, May 29, 1919 (International Film Service Photo - Private Collection) 2) Devon Dog Show, May 29, 1919 (International Film Service Photo - Private Collection) 3) Devon Horse Show / Dog Show Ad, Daily Local News, May 28, 1919, p. 3. (fb)

The Burns Family of Berwyn Peter Burns, Sr. founded a small dynasty of carpenter-builders in Berwyn. He was a cabinetmaker and farmer whose property encompassed 75 acres in the area of what is today Conestoga High School. Peter Burns had four children between 1820 and 1827, thus raising them in the period from the 1820s to the 1840s. He and his youngest son Peter Burns, Jr. (1827-1907) were active in many areas of Berwyn life for decades. Both were builders, and both were deeply involved in the drive to erect the first Trinity Church in the 1860s. Peter Jr., and his son William, were also instrumental in building the second Trinity Church in the 1890s. , William Burns (1856-1910) was part of the third generation of the Burns family, being the first of eight children born to Peter Burns, Jr. As a builder, he worked with his father, and is recorded as having done the stone work for the steeple of the second Trinity Church in the 1890s. He built many other structures, including railroad stations, the Berwyn Bank, and numerous Victorian-style homes in Berwyn, including one for his family at 634 Kromer Avenue. Comparing the 1890 Burns home (image #1) to a contemporary photograph (image #2) shows that the Burns house has been well cared for and still boasts much of the same Victorian architectural decoration. William Burns (image #3) also built and operated the Berwyn Planing Mill, a well-known landmark of Berwyn history, which stood just off Lancaster on the former site of the Mack Oil Company. In this photograph of the mill (image #4), the tall end gables of William Burns' house on Kromer Avenue are visible on the left behind the mill building. Source: TEHS Quarterly Archives, Volume 54, Autumn 2018, Archive Gifts Received in 2016 by Cheryl Leibold. Images: 1) William Burns House on Kromer Ave. in Berwyn, 1890, photographer unknown, TEHS Archive. 2) 634 Kromer Avenue, Berwyn, Apple Maps, June 2021. 3) William Burns. Courtesy of Trinity Church Archives 4) The Berwyn Planing Mill, owned by William Burns, about 1910, TEHS Archive, Herb and Barbara Fry Collection. (fb)