This is the first of two posts about Spear Pond, the small pond near the meadow on Kendal’s campus. Although the ruins of a very old house stand next to the pond, the pond itself is a comparatively recent addition. A future post will cover what is being done to preserve and improve the pond, and what could be done to make it even more of an asset in the future.
This first post is about the pond’s history, based mostly on an article that Merritt Cleaver wrote for The Kendal Reporter in May 2016.
George Harlan, an immigrant from Ireland, owned the land beginning in 1700. George gave 200 of his 500 acres to his oldest son Ezekiel, who soon built the house whose ruins now stand by the pond. (In 1710, Ezekiel gave two of those acres for the Meeting House and cemetery, now standing by Route 1.) By 1715, Ezekiel had become the wealthiest of the 43 taxpayers in Kennett at the time.
Sometime after 1727, Daniel Webb and Ezekiel’s daughter Mary built the house that would become the original section of Kendal’s Farmhouse (it was subsequently expanded about 1798 and 1826). The farm then passed through several owners until, in 1949, the Spear family bought nine acres of it. The Spear property included ruins of the old house that Ezekiel Harlan had built.
In 1956, the Spears had a dam built, creating the pond we now call Spear Pond, adjacent to the ruins of the old stone house. The Spears stocked the pond with bass and sun fish. Alex Spear raised Chesapeake Bay retrievers, and he trained them on the pond. At least one became a national champion.
The dam did its job well until about 1978, when a major rainstorm caused it to overflow, and the dam was damaged. It had to be rebuilt.
Not much changed for many years after that. The ruins gradually deteriorated.
In 2016, Kendal resident Merritt Cleaver took an interest in the pond and the ruins, and investigated their history, resulting in the article linked above. You can get a good sense of the state of the ruins then from this photo by Bob Warner, taken around 2015. It is from the Kendal Digital Archive.
In 2000 Kathleen Gordon and Wallace Ayres got Roy Manno (KCC’s Facilities Director, brand new at the time) interested in the ruins. Kathleen and Wallace launched an effort to clean up the overgrown area. Roy arranged for the ruins to be assessed and carefully reinforced, preventing further deterioration. He also began using a metal detector to dig up numerous artifacts.
The story of this restoration project was the subject of a 2021 Zoom presentation, available on Kendal’s digital archive. In it, Kathleen introduces Roy and provides a bit of background about the pond and ruins. Then Roy describes the restoration project. For those of you wanting more detail about this topic, this video is a good place to start. In addition to a lot of detail about the artifacts that were uncovered, there is historical background and information about possible subsequent work.
In 2024, a small structure, the “Ox Shed”, was built overlooking the pond and ruins. It contains an exhibit of many of the artifacts found around the ruins.
A future blog post will describe the current state of the dam and why it is in serious need of work, what other pond improvements might be done at the same time, and some other ideas about how the pond might become an even greater asset for the Kendal community.
Meanwhile, I encourage readers to check out the pond and the ruins. There are still many residents who are not familiar with this beautiful spot.
Hi: I was in charge of archaeological excavation around the Harlan ruin a few years ago when we found many artifacts. Most of them were related to farming and some were evidence of families’ household items (scissors, spoons, etc.) The oxen shed that Roy had built was a copy of what had been originally standing where the pond is now. Though we don’t know exactly when the Harlan house was destroyed by fire, we do know from an 1883 map that at that time there was a frame barn on the hill above the house. It’s likely that the ruin was lived in by tenants during at least part of the 19thc.
I have continued intermittently to research the Harlan property and its owners (the Harlans, Webbs, Hueys, Spears, etc.) through letters and documents housed in the Chester County Historical Center’s library — when the fire occurred, what crops and livestock were part of the farm, etc.
It will be interesting to read more about plans for the pond.
Kitty Johnstone
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Thanks for adding to this story, Kitty. I now wish I had sought your expertise when writing it.
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Thank you for Harlan Glen!
When we arrived here in the beginning of May, still waiting for the moving vans to arrive, I made my way out for a walk around the perimeter walk.
As I was approaching the meadow, I ran into Tim and Janny Sterrett, who not only already knew who I was, but also invited us to dinner that night! Wow!, I thought. We have arrived among nice people!
Leaving them going off in another direction, I made my way to Harlan Glen and found the ruin and the pond. It was peaceful, quiet and magical. I was convinced that Allen and I must have made the right decision to come to Kendal from Rhode Island. Things felt right.
I have been there many times since I arrived, to feel that peace and history that I am , bit by bit, learning about Kendal and the Quaker history of this area.
Many thanks to all of you who worked – and still work on this project. It is a gift to us all.
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Resident fondness for the Spear Pond area and the glen formed by the tiny, persistent Spear Rill (named recently and appropriately, as far as I know, by Pete Thomas) has led residents to a long history of interest and stewardship.
George’s blog is a beautiful signpost pointing to some of the many sources of the history of the early European colonists, e.g.,Merritt Cleaver’s article and Kendal’s excellent Digital Archives.
Kitty Johnstone’s comment (above) typifies the earnest involvement of other residents, starting with some of the earliest, who showed their love of the Glen by working on behalf of this unique and beautiful natural area.
Volunteer workers from the Natural Areas Conservancy and its Trail Team have contributed countless hours in cooperation with Casey Groff and Grounds.
To me, that Harlan Glen exists in its present state is almost as miraculous as its history. The presence of a spring, the location in a protective bowl, and the availability of abundant nut-bearing trees likely provided sustenance to the great animals of the Eastern Forest and the people who in turn also depended upon the forest.
Harlan Glen remains a still and sacred space and the place remembers all that has happened. It whispers its stories to those who take the time to stop in silence and to listen.
I am profoundly grateful to the stewards who came before us.
Kathleen Gordon
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Thank you, George. This is the best short history of the Pond, especially to think of the Pond as an asset for a better future for residents. And thanks to Bob Warner for the 2025 photo. Peter
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Several years after coming to Kendal, I discovered that one of my ancestors, Thomas Harlan, was a brother of the George Harlan who owned this property and whose son, Ezekiel, provided the property for the meeting house. Thomas stayed in northern Ireland, when George and brother Michael, and families migrated to Chester County. Thomas’s grandson, also George, came to Pennsylvania in the mid 1700s. For more information about the Harlan family, see my 2022 Pre-Kendal Memory in the Kendal library.
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