Morrisville is located in Bucks County, PA and is situated on the Delaware River directly across from Trenton, NJ. Morrisville is the starting point for land measurement in the Keystone State and was the starting point of the survey of the first tract of land purchased from the Indians by William Penn on July 15, 1682.
Thursday, June 22
Registration was held at the home of reunion hosts Ken and Kathy Junkins in Morrisville. Afterwards, the group had dinner at Antonio's Italian restaurant a few blocks away.
Friday, June 23
JFA members met at Ken and Kathy's home to board a van for a tour of Fonthill, Henry Mercer's home, in nearby Doylestown, PA. Fonthill is a castle of 44 rooms and is chock ful of decorative tiles from 2,000 B.C. Babylonian clay tablets to Delft, Persian and Mercer's own handmade tiles. Some even tell the stories of Columbus, Bluebeard and Dickens. Afterwards, box lunches were provided and the group ate and relaxed on the grounds of Fonthill before touring Mercer's Moravian Tile Works next door.
That evening, the group met at Headley Manor Dinner Theater for dinner and the show "A Country Jamboree."
Saturday, June 24
After a JFA Board of Directors' meeting, reunion attendees boarded a bus to visit several historic sites. The group first visited Greystones, which marks the starting point of…
Next, the group visited Summerseat. Adam Hoops established a gristmill in Morrisville in the mid-1700s and also built his home, Summerseat, there. Summerseat had three prominent owners in the 1700s.
Thomas Barclay, Hoops' son-in-law became owner of Summerseat in 1773. Barclay was the owner when George Washington established his headquarters at Summerseat on December 8, 1776. Washington planned his historic attack on Trenton there. A few miles north of Morrisville is where Washington and his troops crossed the Delaware River and then walked to Trenton where his troops attacked fifteen hundred Hessians. That attack is one of the most famous battles in U.S. history.
The second owner of Summerseat was Robert Morris who nearly succeed in having Morrisville selected as the capital site for the U.S. The third owner was George Clymer. Both Morris and Clymer were signers of the Declaration of Independence.
After touring Summerseat, the group made a brief stop on the NJ side of Delaware River at the spot where Washington and his troops landed after crossing the river.
The next JFA stop was at Pennsbury Manor on the Delaware River in Morrisville for a tour, box lunches and relaxation. The home was built by Wiliam Penn, first governor of Pennsylvania.
That evening, cocktails, dinner, a short business meeting and entertainment were held at JB's Restaurant in Morrisville.
Sunday, June 24
Reunion attendees met at Ken and Kathy Junkins' home for a farewell gathering, pastries and a computerized slide show Ken had put together of pictures he'd taken during the reunion.