The Speaker's House
The Connors sold the house on March 1, 1777, to merchant John Patton (1745–1804) for £1,500 only six days before his marriage to Jane Davis (1752–1832).
John and Jane Patton had eleven or twelve children; Benjamin, the oldest, may have been born while they lived in Trappe.
In May 1781, Reed offered to rent out "2 large rooms in his big house, half of the cellar, adequate firewood, and fodder for his horse at 20 pounds silver money a year."
They had seven children: Henry William, Maria, Elisabeth, Margaret, Ann Catherine, Frederick, and John Peter David.
As signs of revolution began to emerge, Frederick and his family left New York in 1776 and returned to Pennsylvania, where they stayed briefly with his parents in Trappe before moving to the nearby town of New Hanover for several years.
In 1779, Frederick left the ministry to enter politics and became a member of the Continental Congress to fulfill the term of Edward Biddle.
Located next to his parents' house, it would provide support for Frederick's wife and children during the long absences necessitated by his new career.
Frederick's political career continued to rise when in 1783 he was elected President of the Council of Censors for Philadelphia County.
His Trappe home served as both a private residence and de facto seat of government, as there was not yet an official courthouse.
Frederick also operated a general store on the property, which sold goods such as sugar, tea, coffee, tobacco, fabric, sewing supplies, and ready-made clothing.
When his father-in-law David Schaeffer Sr. died in 1787, Frederick and his wife inherited a part-ownership of a sugar refinery in Philadelphia.
When the Congress convened the following spring, he was elected the first Speaker of the House, a role which required a significant amount of entertaining and thus merited a salary twice that of other congressmen.
During the Fourth Congress, Muhlenberg became the chairman of the committee to the Whole and moderated the debate over appropriations to support the Jay Treaty with Great Britain.
The vote ended his political career and nearly his life when Muhlenberg's own brother-in-law, Bernhard Schaeffer, stabbed him afterwards.
[1]: 11 The first owner of The Speaker's House at the start of the 19th century was Charles Albrecht (c. 1759–1848), a German immigrant and musical instrument maker.
That he resided in Trappe is evidenced by his absence from the Philadelphia city directories from 1805 through 1808, coinciding with his ownership of The Speaker's House.
[1]: 13 A neighbor, Henry A. Hunsicker, later recalled a "one story wing attached to the east side of the house, fronting the turnpike, which was used for store purposes, and which was at one time occupied by Felty Fitzgerald, who sold watermelons and truck."
His widow Sarah claimed about $88 in household goods; another $221 in possessions were sold, including furniture, surgical instruments, medical books and a "Shower Bath."
According to historical records, at the time that their daughter Sarah died 10 years later when she was 25, she owned the following: piano, furniture, silverware, jewelry and other items valued at $595, in addition to a dower fund.
[1]: 14 When it came time to settle Sarah Johnson's estate, her executor Wright Bringhurst divided the property into two equal tracts.
Their time together was not always peaceful—records show that Thomas refused to leave the farm unless Samuel would financially provide for him according to promises made to him prior to this.
[1]: 17–20 Andrew Heyser Detwiler (1863–1933) bought the property from Lewis Royer's estate in 1908, which totaled 29 acres (120,000 m2) and 92 and 22/100 perches.
The house was renamed "Highland Hall" and renovated to accommodate 26 to 28 male students, with quarters for a houseman and caretaker.
A new 100-foot (30 m) artesian well was drilled and fitted with a pump, additional bathing and toilet facilities were installed, and clothes closets were constructed in several rooms.
In 1944, faced with declining enrollment due to World War II, Ursinus put the house up for sale and it was bought by Andrew and Myrtle Rihl.
Prior to that, the college had sold much of the land in a bargain sale for $100 to the newly formed Collegeville-Trappe School District in 1938.
Among the most important findings was the foundation of Frederick Muhlenberg's general store, which was attached to the east side of the house.
On April 12, 2008, a Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission roadside marker was dedicated on the property to acknowledge the life and legacy of Frederick Muhlenberg.
[9]: 225 The Catharine Muhlenberg portrait had remained unpublished since 1910, and scholar Monroe H. Fabian presumed that it had been lost in the 1917 fire.
[11] After her death in 2016, at age 100, her sons located the Catharine Muhlenberg portrait in the attic of her Newport, Rhode Island house.
