Article on DeTurk House on the front page of "Oley Valley Sentinel: A quarterly publication serving the entire Oley Valley School District," Volume 7, Issue 4, July 2009.
Article appearing on page 7 was writeen by Spencer Shaak, Sentinel Intern and contains three photographs. Piece briefly discusses resoration project, its budget, archaeological study, and DeTurk family history. Trust Board members Scott Stepp, Property Committee Chair, and John Bieber are quoted.
See DTHPH51--1001.01.177 for front page photograph of DeTurk house referring to this article. Front page image also appears in MULTIMEDIA LINKS and additional images.
Seven-page article (with photographs) appearing on pages 2-8 in the Fall 1975 (volume IV, Number 1) issue of "American Folklife," journal of the American Folklife Society. Article titled "Colonial Dressed Stone Structures" discusses dressed stone houses, V-pointing & flat pointing, brick arches & dressed stone, etc.
Approximately half of the article uses four separate current Trust properties as examples of dressed stone structures: DeTurk House, Keim Cabin, White Horse Tavern, and Douglass Mansion. Other buildings used as examples are the LeVan Manor House, Cook Mansion, Kaufman Manor House.
See additional images or MULTIMEDIA LINKS for full text.
Letter in reply to HPTBC's Mrs. E. Robert Hottenstein from Donald D. Donohue, antique dealer of Falls Church VA, dated 08/01/1969. No copy of the letter from Mrs. Hottenstein has been found.
"Letter No. 2" is printed in pencil in the upper right corner. This apparently refers to a series (numbered 1 to 6) of inquiries to various sources about the De Turk property made by Mrs. Hottenstein.
The subject is the location of a door and its hardware from the first floor, south elevation of the DeTurk house, and the possibility of purchase by HPTBC. Mr. Donohue's reply is negative.
Letter from Donald Donahue, antique dealer of Falls Church VA, dated Feb. 13,1970, in reply to a letter dated August 14, 1969 from Mrs. E. Robert Hottenstein, , to. A copy of the letter from Mrs. Hottenstein is posted in record DTHTX10.
"Letter No. 3" is printed in pencil in the upper right corner. This apparently refers to a series (numbered 1 to 6) of inquiries to various sources about the DeTurk property made by Mrs. Hottenstein.
The subject is the location of a door from the first floor, south elevation of the DeTurk house discussed in previous exchange of letters. Mr. Donohue indicates he can be of no further help in procuring the door from the current owners.
However, approximately 40 years after receipt of this letter, the estate of the owners in Virginia donated the original door and its hardware to the historic Preservation Trust. These precious artifacts are preserved and exhibited by the Trust.
Excerpt from the "Transactions of the Historical Society of Berks County Volume III: Embracing Papers Contributed to the Society 1910-1916" published by the Historical Society of Berks County in 1923 in Reading, PA.
Eleven-page excerpt begins on page 244 and is titled "Baptisms of Indians in Oley Prior to 1732: A Paper Read before the Historical Society Sept. 9, 1913 by Rev. John Baer Stoudt." Rev. Stoudt's Paper focuses on a prominent ministers and religious leaders active in the Oley Valley during the early 18th century and their interactions with the Valley's Native American Indian inhabitants.
Of particular note is text on page 249 under the heading "baptized in Barn." which gives a brief account of a Moravian led baptism of three Native American Indians in Isaac DeTurk's barn (not the 1767 structure near the creek as elsewhere and erroneously stated).
See MULTIMEDIA LINKS or additional images for full text.
Excerpt from the "Transactions of the Historical Society of Berks County Volume III: Embracing Papers Contributed to the Society 1910-1916" published by the Historical Society of Berks County in 1923 in Reading, PA.
Sixteen-page excerpt begins on page 255 and is titled "Great Religious Revival which Occured in the Oley Valley 175 Years Ago." Paper written by Rev. John Baer Stoudt and read before the Society at an unknown date. Rev. Stoudt's piece focuses on prominent ministers and religious leaders as well as the religious climate of the Oley Valley during the early 18th century.
Of particular note is text on pages 260 & 261 under the heading "Zinzendorf Preaches in Oley." which gives a brief account of a Moravian synod of c.1742 [confusion of date derives from use of both Gregorian and Julian calendars two centuries after Pope Gregory's reforms]. Here the author contradicts his 1913 statement (see object number DTHTX19--1001.01.161) about the baptism of three Native American Indians. In this passage the converts were baptized on February 21, 22, or 23 NOT January 12 as previously mentioned.
Also note that the synod is claimed to have taken place in John DeTurk's house 25 years before the DeTurk House owned by the Trust was built. Presumably the "house" in which the conference occurred would refer to the c.1740 John DeTurk house, now incorporated into the expanded multi-bay farmhouse to the southeast of the 1767 small house ["ancillary structure"] near the creek. It is possible to reconcile the two accounts as to the sites by inferring that the Synod met in the house and the baptism took place in the barn to accommodate the larger number of people attending the rites admitting the Native American Indians to the Christian community. The January/February inconsistency is less easily resolved.
The account of these events printed by Benjamin Franklin in 1742 in pamphlet form recites dates of February 9, 10, 11, “1741/2” [corrected to Feb 10-12th in an erratum leaf]. The “1741/2” expression was the conventional designation under the dual calendar custom], and the German language title cites the location as “Johann De Turcks Hause.” An English translation of this report appeared in “The Lutheran Quarterly” (Jan., 1926), pp. 84-108, with an Introduction by P.C. Croll, author of the Annals of the Oley Valley on page 42 of which the title page of the pamphlet printed by Franklin is reproduced (see MULTIMEDIA LINKS). If the February dates are correct the “Indian” [sic] baptism took place about 10 days after the “Conferenz.”
Image shown is first page only. See MULTIMEDIA LINKS or additional images for full text.
Letter Aug 14, 1969, by Mrs. E. Robert Hottenstein in reply to the Aug. 1, 1969 letter from Donald D. Donohue. There is further discussion of the De Turk house door and its hardware, and the details necessary to have reproductions of these made if the originals cannot be purchased.
Partial page excerpt from essay titled "Down Oley Way" by Olive Zehner describing deteriorated condition of the DeTurck [DeTurk] house and appealing for it's preservation.
Illustrated by exterior photo courtesy of the Berks County Historical Society. (see larger image DTHPH12-1001.01.035)
From: Pennsylvania Dutchman Magazine, Vol. V, No. 5, page 16.
Invoice for materials and labor for restoration masonry work done to DeTurk House by Robert L. Landis (Carpenter & Masonry Work). Invoice is dated June 12, 1973.
One page letter written by Betty Hottenstein (then secretery of the Trust) in March 1970. Letter requests that exisiting members of the Trust renew their membership and pay their dues and annouces the date for the annual membership meeting. Also, letter briefly discusses restoration work performed on Mouns Jones House and planned for the DeTurk House. Maintenance of other sites and landmarks is also discussed.
Full-page article with seven photos from the front page of the Reading Eagle's Spectrum section (page 9).
Article, titled "Little House in the Oley Valley," written by Ray Koehler (photos by Bill Ader & Dennis R. Bender) was published Thursday July 18, 1991.
Article mainly focuses on replacment of clay ridge tiles, which were handmade by Lester Breininger, a descendant of John DeTurk.
Also includes brief info on DeTurk family history and the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County.
Article with one photo from Opinion & Editorial page of the Kutztown Area Patriot, October 22, 2009 edition.
Article is titled "Historic German roots originate in Rhine Valley" and written by Richard L.T. Orth (photo of DeTurk House courtesy of www.americanfolklifeintsittute.com).
Article mainly focuses on the use of clay roof tiles by the Oley Valley's 18th-century Germanic settlers. Includes info on use of similar tiles in Germany's Rhineland region, forms of tile "decoration," tile installation, etc.
Also includes brief info on DeTurk House, Keim Farmstead, and the Historic Preservation Trust of Berks County.
Letter from PHMC, Eric deJonge, dated Apr 17, 1969, in reply to letter of inquiry from Mrs. J. Robert Hottenstein. Subjects include DeTurk house shutters and the possible loan for copying of the one in PHMC hands. He also indicates that the Dutch-Front door of the building is in private hands in Virginia or Washington D.C., and suggests corresponding with a Mr. R. T. Trump for more information.
"Letter No. 6" is printed in pencil in the upper right corner. This apparently refers to a series (numbered 1 to 6) of inquiries to various sources about the DeTurk property made by Mrs. Hottenstein.
Series of 17 images comprising the entire text (and included digital photographs) for the Trust's application to Preservation Pennsylvania's annual awards ceremony. The application was originally submitted to nominate the restoration work completed at Johan DeTurk House between July 2009 and december 2010 for a for a Construction Award under the Residential category. Preservation granted a Construction Award to the DeTurk project for Restoration of a Special Historic Property. The Trust will accept the award during the September 2011 luncheon ceremony.
Thirteen-page ledger contains receipts and expenditures for activities associated with the DeTurk House beginning in March 1966 and ending with April 11, 1975.
See MULTIMEDIA LINKS or additional images for entire ledger.
Background text accompanying Historical American Buildings Survey photographs and drawings. Six pages of text contains "Location," Historical Info," "Architectural Info," etc. on the DeTurk House.
For full text see additional images or refer to MULTIMEDIA LINKS. Full contents of HABS file may also be found in MULTIMEDIA LINKS.
Photocopy of a ten-page report prepared by Barry K. Stover for Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS). Form was prepared in order to update existing HABS information on the DeTurk House already on file at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. Unfortunately, this information was never filed with HABS.
Topics discussed include: Hisotrical Information, Architectural Information (a alrge degre of detail is supplied in this section), Sources of Information & Project Information.
See additonal images for complete text.
See DTHFN1---1000.01.241 for field notes drawings created by Barry Stover to accompany this data sheet.
Letter from Harold E. Yoder, Jr. of the Historical Society of Berks County, dated Feb. 13, 1970, in reply to a personal inquiry from Mrs. J. Robert Hottenstein. Subjects include shutters from the DeTurk house which the Society holds, and windows from elsewhere which were mistakenly displayed with them.
"Letter No. 5" is printed in pencil in the upper right corner. This apparently refers to a series (numbered 1 to 6) of inquiries to various sources about the DeTurk property made by Mrs. Hottenstein.
