The "A Historical Story About The 'Dinah Memorial'"

It was an ordinary day.  Reading my Sunday News when I came across a story telling me about Philadelphia's first monument dedicated to a formerly enslaved woman on the grounds of Stenton.  The monument was located next to a 300-year-old home in the Logan section of the city near Germantown, PA.  So, just how is my hometown of Lancaster connected you might want to know.  Well, the connection is James Logan who built Stenton and the Penn family's representative in Pennsylvania.  Mr. Logan was the primary quaker mover and shaker of the colony in the early 18th century, as well as a Lancaster County landowner.  At various times, Logan served as President of Pennsylvania's Provincial Council, mayor of Philadelphia, Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and acting Governor.  Among other duties, Logan often presided at treaty sessions with American Indians on the Pennsylvania frontier.  He understood maintaining good relationships with the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy and their wards, the Conestogas in Lancaster County, was crucial to Pennsylvania's security.  In 1717, Logan set aside 500 acres for himself and 300 acres on a neighboring tract for fur trader John Cartlidge along the Conestoga River in what would become Manor Township.  Logan also owned 100 acres across the river in Conestoga Township.  These lands, close to the Little Conestoga Creek's confluence with the Conestoga River and the Conestoga's outlet to the Susquehanna river, lay within walking distance of Conestoga Indian Town.  Logan built a store that would become the focal point for trade with Indians from a large region.  Covered wagons called "Conestogas" rolled regularly between Logan's trading post and Philadelphia.  Logan made a small fortune in the fur trade, but made even more money by taking his cut from the Penn family properties he sold in Lancaster and other settled areas.  He created a property known as Stenton with this money.  He raised his family at Stenton and became an expert in botany, astronomy and mathematics.  He corresponded with English, European and American scholars and was at the epicenter of intellectual life in early Philadelphia.  But, he achieved much of this with enslaved African-Americans and indentured servants.  They built Stenton and maintained its interior and grounds  allowing him time to cultivate his intellect.  It wasn't until recent decades that people mentioned Logan's enslaved personnel.  During the Revolutionary War, well after Logan's death, an enslaved woman named Dinah, who the family had freed, prevented British soldiers from torching the mansion.  The Dinah Memorial project engaged the surrounding Black community to help design a fitting memorial to Dinah.  

The Dinah Memorial

The memorial consists of two engraved limestone tablets and benches surrounding a small reflecting basin near Stenton's main entrance along 18th Street in front of the house.  James Logan was one of the most significant potltical and intectual leaders of early Pennsylvania.  He also enslaved African Americans and helped steal Bucks County territory from the Lenape Indians in the 1737 "Walking Purchase."  He was a vital, but flawed figure in Pennsylvania history. It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.