History Attic Research

Please meet Sheshbazaar Bentley and his third wife Hannah. We thought “Thankful Bacon” was a wild name!! Sheshbazaar was a prominent figure and successful businessman. Sheshbazaar, commonly referred to simply as Shesh, was 64 years old when he purchased our subject property. He owned the property from 1786 to 1866, however never lived there. He rented it to a tenant farmer. In the 1850 census, Shesh listed his occupation as farmer with a real estate value of $46,500, an astonishing sum for that time.

My son said he looks like a character from Harry Potter. AGREED!! 🧙🏻‍♀️🪄🎩 Photos courtesy of Mitzi Wortman tree on

FIRE—second only to bulldozers—has been one of the biggest destroyers of historic homes.

We delved into the history of a fascinating house in Lower Milford, Pennsylvania. Our research, as always, includes deeds and family records, which revealed a property with a troubled past. This is just ONE of its stories.

During our initial visit, we were given a tour, which, alongside presentation day, is one of our favorite parts of the process. While touring the property, were shown a severely charred beam discovered during restoration.

Fortunately, we found newspaper articles detailing the events. They are attached for reference.

Mary and Frank Eck moved to the property in 1931, where they raised three daughters. However, their life took a tragic turn when Frank Eck passed away from pneumonia at the age of 39, just two years after their arrival.

The articles state on September 26, 1962, catastrophe struck the Eck household. Mary’s daughter, 33 year old Lillie May was charged along with two men of setting fire to the family home. The article notes Mary and her other daughters Evangeline and Mary Ann escaped the flames, but lost all of their possessions.

A newspaper account of the outcome of the criminal case names another man, Lester Andreas along with Robert Farber and Daniel Byrne. The men apparently attacked one of the Eck sisters before setting the fire. According to this account, both Lilie Mae and Evangline Eck were committed for treatment at a local hospital. We can also infer from the article that the Eck home was in a poor state in 1962.

Sadly, soon after the fire, Mrs. Eck died and the property was put up for a public auction.

David O. Miller was the highest bidder at the public sale in 1963. He purchased the fire damaged house and 30.2 acres for $5600.

Dawn Brucale 😃😃😃

We’ve been off social media for a bit, as life sometimes takes over. Nevertheless, we’re still busy helping owners uncover the stories of their homes and grateful to do so. One of our current projects is all the way in Washington Township, PA! We’re planning a road trip there in the next couple of months.

We’ve encountered some amusing names recently, but this one stands out as particularly unique.

with .repost
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May 23, 2021- We’ve just finished a writing session for the project with . As always, our research is stranger than fiction. This one is a real standout—her name was Thankful Bacon and in marrying Timothy Hope, she became Thankful Hope. It’s a beautiful name, don’t you think?

And just for fun: could Thankful be related to ? That would make for an interesting seven degrees of separation!

😂 ❤️ 😴