Anna Morris Holstein, King of Prussia, Montgomery County

It's a new first for the blog, the first quest in Montgomery County!

I went down to the King of Prussia Mall recently to have lunch with Christine, one of my friends from the old college days. Roughly half a million years ago, we were baby freshmen at Kutztown University, and we hadn't seen each other in quite a while so we had plenty of catching up to do. Christine's a food blogger (she's on my Quest Links page) and also an editor at MontCo Today, so she knows plenty about what goes on in Montgomery County. As a result, she was the one who had first alerted me to a marker dedication happening last fall. Specifically, she's the author of this article about it. Unfortunately, we both had something come up to prevent us from going to the ceremony.

Since we were eating so close to its location, though, I was able to head over there after our fabulous lunch at Maggiano's Little Italy. Christine had to get back to work, but we're talking about going together to get another MontCo marker sometime this summer, so she can see how I do this. (My work is probably less glamorous than anyone thinks. The number one rule: don't get hit by a car. I did that already, a long time ago, and I definitely do not recommend it.)

Much to my surprise, this marker hadn't yet been added to the Historical Marker Database, which my regular readers know I link in every post. I've created a page for it there, but as of this writing it hasn't gone live yet, so I'll have to come back and add the link once it does. Edited 5/20/2022: The page is now live and the link is in the sources section at the end of the post.

The marker stands at the end of the driveway of Anna's
home at 211 South Henderson Road, King of Prussia.

Our subject this week was born Anna Morris Ellis, the daughter of William and Rebecca (Morris) Ellis. She was born on April 9, 1824 in Lycoming County, and grew up with the understanding that she came from a family of patriots; among other things, she was a great-granddaughter of Samuel Morris, whom I'm surprised to learn does not have a marker of his own. He was captain of Philadelphia's first city troop, which served as George Washington's personal guard during the American Revolution, and he personally accompanied Washington on several occasions. Knowing this about her own family probably had a lot to do with Anna's later activities.

In 1848 she married William Hayman Holstein, another descendant of Revolutionary War participants. It was a very harmonious marriage by all accounts, as husband and wife shared a strong sense of duty to their country. When the Civil War broke out, William enlisted with the 17th Pennsylvania Militia, serving honorably until it was mustered out. Anna, meanwhile, became a nurse with the Army of the Potomac for much of the war, caring for those wounded in several of the major battles. When she wasn't actively busy with that, she participated in projects with the U.S. Sanitary Commission in eastern Pennsylvania. Yes, that's the organization in last week's post, and no, I didn't know that when I started this one. 

Following the battle of Gettysburg, a new general hospital named Camp Letterman was established to care for the massive number of injured soldiers, and Anna was appointed its matron-in-chief. She worked with about forty other women of various ages as they tended to the injured and dying from both sides of the conflict. The camp, which was situated on the George Wolf farm just outside of Gettysburg proper, relieved a lot of the pressure which had been placed on the small community in the aftermath of the battle. With a sizeable force of doctors, nurses, cooks, security officers, and members of the U.S. Sanitary Commission, they treated thousands of wounded men, Union and Confederate alike. The battle was in July 1863; in November, President Abraham Lincoln arrived to help dedicate the new cemetery. Anna and William were both well repaid for their service, because they actually got to sit close to Lincoln during the ceremony and were firsthand witnesses to the Gettysburg Address.

Camp Letterman ceased to be needed in 1864 and was dismantled. I like to think Anna was like me, in the sense that she couldn't stand being bored, so she started writing. She wrote a memoir of her time as an Army nurse, which I've listed in my sources section, and also wrote a detailed history of her husband's family, going back to their origins in Sweden. She was a member of the Historical Society of Montgomery County and they published some of her shorter writings, as did various magazines and newspapers. As a founding member of the Valley Forge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, she served as its first regent, a post she held for many years. In 1893 she served as matron of the Pennsylvania Building during the World's Fair. The picture of her seen at left, now in the public domain, appeared in a 1902 issue of The American Monthly Magazine.

But the thing for which Anna is best remembered today is her dedication to George Washington's memory. She and William were among the first to join the efforts of the Mount Vernon Ladies' Association to rescue Mount Vernon from ruin. It wasn't nearly as badly damaged as many of the Virginia plantations were in the Civil War, and it was restored and became the historic landmark we know today. 

She was also the Organizing Regent of the Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge, which undertook the mission to save and restore Washington's headquarters there. Anna believed that it was a valuable piece of history that should be preserved for future generations to see and experience and understand. For the 100th anniversary of the Army of the Revolution's departure from Valley Forge in June 1778, the organization held a massive event to raise both funds and awareness for their cause. With this money, the bought the headquarters from its then owner, a woman named Hannah Ogden. As money continued to be raised for the project, they purchased the surrounding acreage in order to protect it from development. They also located original artifacts and had replicas made to replace those that could not be gotten, and even transplanted a tree from Mount Vernon onto the grounds. The building which served as Washington's home in the winter of 1777 was fully restored. As a result of all of this, Valley Forge became Pennsylvania's first State Park, receiving the designation in 1893.

As for Anna, she continued to serve as regent of the Valley Forge DAR chapter until ill health forced her to step down. She died on December 31, 1900, at her home. William predeceased her in 1894, and they are buried at Christ Church (Old Swedes) in Upper Merion Township. For a large portion of their marriage, they lived on a stately farm situated at what today is 211 South Henderson Road in King of Prussia, pictured at right. It's still a private residence, as far as I can tell, so it's not open for tours or anything like that; I get the impression from my research that it's been converted into apartments. The historical marker, which was placed in 2021 by the Valley Forge Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, sits at the end of the driveway, only the second one in Montgomery County to be dedicated to a woman. (The first is for Lucretia Mott.) Anyone driving past can get a glimpse into the life of the remarkable woman who once graced the house, the county, and the commonwealth with her drive and dedication.

Edit August 19, 2022: Thank you to Karen Ploch of the Historical Society of Montgomery County and the current regent of the Valley Forge Chapter of the DAR for their contributions to this post!

Edit August 31, 2022: Thank you to James Brazel of the Historical Society of Montgomery County for a contribution to this post!

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Sources and Further Reading:

Biddle, Gertrude Bosler, and Sarah Dickson Lowrie. "Anna Morris Holstein." Notable Women of Pennsylvania. The University of Pennsylvania Press, 1942. 

Holstein, Anna Morris. Three Years in Field Hospitals of the Army of the Potomac. Publisher unknown, 1866.

Tarlecki, Christine. "Civil War Nurse Anna Morris Holstein to Be Honored with Historic Marker in King of Prussia." MontCo.Today, June 7, 2021.

Obituary of Anna Morris Holstein in the Allentown Leader, January 2, 1901; courtesy of Newspapers.com.

The Centennial and Memorial Association of Valley Forge, courtesy of the National Parks Service

The King of Prussia Historical Society

The Historical Society of Montgomery County

Anna Morris Holstein at the Historical Marker Database

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Except where indicated, all writing and photography on this blog is the intellectual property of Laura Klotz. This blog is written with permission of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission. I am not employed by the PHMC. All rights reserved.