The WCDAR donates funds to preserve historic Bucks County Deed Books.

The Washington Crossing Chapter of the DAR (WCDAR) recently awarded the last installment of a $5,125.00 donation to preserve Bucks County Deed Books located in the Bucks County Administration Building in Doylestown.. The Bucks County Recorder of Deeds office is home to documents from as early as 1684 to the present day.

Chapter members of the WCDAR presented the Bucks County Recorder of Deeds (ROD), Dan McPhillips, with a check for $2,200.00 which was the last installment for the Adopt-A-Book program to restore and preserve the historic Bucks County Deed Books.  The money was raised by selling the cookbook, “Historic Sites and Bites”, created by the Chapter’s Cookbook Committee and is a culinary tour of Bucks County and surrounding sites of yesteryear.  

Chapter members were given a tour and were excited to examine written documents of landowners freeing their slaves from the late 1700s and viewed a document with William Penn's original signature.  One deed book of particular interest, Deed Book 10, holds the deed for the pastoral Thompson-Neely Farmstead located in New Hope on the Delaware River.  The Thompson Neely Farmstead served as an encampment site for part of the Continental Army in December 1776 and has at least 13 known Revolutionary War Soldiers buried on the farmstead.

The WCDAR created the “Historic Sites and Bites” cookbook to share histories of many significant buildings and sites in Bucks County and the surrounding area which connect to the American Revolution. These locations are paired with recipes that reflect the era, and many are adapted from 18th century recipes. Also included are beautiful illustrations of the various sites by local artists. Copies of the cookbook can be purchased at the Washington Crossing Historic Park Visitors Center for $20.

The WCDAR would like to recognize and thank the Recorder of Deeds, Dan McPhillips, for hosting us!