MediaWiki API result
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"*": "Subscribe to the mediawiki-api-announce mailing list at <https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/mediawiki-api-announce> for notice of API deprecations and breaking changes."
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"*": "Because \"rvslots\" was not specified, a legacy format has been used for the output. This format is deprecated, and in the future the new format will always be used."
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"4525": {
"pageid": 4525,
"ns": 0,
"title": "Recent Upgrade",
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"*": "In spring and summer 2021, HEALD underwent an upgrade to improve the site\u2019s function and appearance. Users are welcome to consult the [[Digital Approach and Vision|Digital Approach]] and [[User's_Guide|User\u2019s Guide]] pages for a more comprehensive description of the project\u2019s vision and usage.\n\n''HEALD'' now runs on a more recent version of the '''MediaWiki software''' (1.35.2). In addition, the site went through a security reviewing process which included the migration of its database to a new one, compatible with PHP7 and MySQL as well as the consolidation of its Apache server. As a result, the ''HEALD'' team updates the site directly and no longer uses a development site whose content needed to be \u201cpushed\u201d to the public periodically. Many obsolete extensions were removed, while new ones were added. One of them, \"Elasticsearch\" has the scope to improve accuracy of search results within the site. \n\nThe Semantic Web was implemented through Semantic MediaWiki to enhance the sustainability and longevity of the site by making the data exportable and therefore retrievable. More details are available on the [[Semantic HEALD|Semantic ''HEALD'']] page. \n\nConsiderable changes responded to user\u2019s experience survey comments about navigability, user-friendliness, and content delivery. In addition to the MediaWiki software upgrade, a new customized design layout, called \u201cChameleon 3,\u201d was adopted, which includes different colors and fonts for the text. To provide a more organic browsing experience, the following parts of the site were re-configured: \n\n* The '''home page''' hosts multiple ways to start exploring ''HEALD''. While it remains possible to select one of the three main categories under which content is organized\u2014[[:Category:Keywords|Keywords]], [[:Category:Places|Places]] and [[:Category:People|People]]\u2014by clicking the correspondent image, access to the three introductory essays is now also available directly from the home page, rather than from a separate page. The image grid pertaining to Keywords, People and Places in the home page features different images every time users visit the page. An icon, whose function is to quickly link to content, accompanies rotating images. \n\n* The '''top bar menu''' has been simplified. By opening the '''Browse''' tab, users will be able to directly access the following pages: Keywords, People, Places and the Finding Aid. \n\n* A new section, '''Image Collection''' (read more about this section on the [[User's Guide]] page) is accessed via the top bar menu. This was made possible by the implementation of the Semantic Web (read more on [[Semantic HEALD|Semantic ''HEALD'']]). \n\n* A '''table of contents''' was added to Keywords, Places, and People pages. The feature follows a user\u2019s navigation, so that one can see the full content of a page at a glance and move between sections of the page with one click, eliminating excessive scrolling.\n\n* Images are explorable via an updated version of the '''in-page image viewer'''. \n\n* '''Page header and footer''' have been adapted to the latest design guidelines in accordance with the recent re-design of the National Gallery\u2019s logo and lettering. \n\n\nThe ''HEALD'' Team hopes that these changes will improve your experience."
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"686": {
"pageid": 686,
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"title": "Richard Peters",
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"*": "{{Person\n|Birth Present=No\n|Birth Date=May 22, 1744\n|Birth Circa=No\n|Birth Concurrence=Exact\n|Birth Questionable=No\n|Birth HasEndDate=No\n|Birth Present End=No\n|Birth Circa End=No\n|Birth Questionable End=No\n|Death Present=No\n|Death Date=August 22, 1828\n|Death Circa=No\n|Death Concurrence=Exact\n|Death Questionable=No\n|Death HasEndDate=No\n|Death Present End=No\n|Death Circa End=No\n|Death Questionable End=No\n|Birth Location=Belmont, Philadelphia, PA\n|Keywords=Ancient style; Avenue; Eminence; Grove; Hedge; Landscape gardening; Obelisk; Orchard; Piazza; Picturesque; Pleasure ground/Pleasure garden; Seat; Statue; Vase/Urn; View/Vista; Walk\n|Other resources={{ExternalLink\n|External link URL=http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/n85363458.html\n|External link text=Library of Congress Name Authority File\n}}\n}}\n'''Richard Peters''' (June 22, 1744–August 22, 1828), a federal judge and Revolutionary War patriot, devoted himself to agricultural experiments at [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]], his family\u2019s estate outside of Philadelphia, where he operated a model farm. Peters published extensively and became a leading authority on best practices for American agriculture.\n\n==History==\n[[File:0301.jpg|thumb|left|Fig. 1, William Russell Birch, \u201c[[View]] from [[Belmont_(Philadelphia,_PA)|Belmont]] Pennsyl.<sup>a</sup> the [[Seat]] of Judge Peters,\u201d in ''The Country [[Seat]]s of the United States'' (1808), pl. 16.]]\nRichard Peters was born at [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]], the estate on the [[Schuylkill River]] that his father, [[William Peters]], was then in the process of developing as a suburban villa and [[pleasure garden]] [Fig. 1]. Following [[William Peters|William\u2019s]] return to England in 1768, Peters assumed responsibility for the property, which served as his primary residence for the next sixty years. He made significant changes to the house and gardens, adding wings to the north and south sides of the building and a [[piazza]] across the front, and substantially reducing the size of the ornamental gardens in order to devote more land to practical farming.<ref>Mark Reinberger, \u201cBelmont: The Bourgeois Villa in Eighteenth-Century Philadelphia,\u201d ''Arris: Journal of the Southeast Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians'' 9 (1998): 22, 33, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/UWBTRV23 view on Zotero].</ref> In contrast to his Loyalist father, Richard Peters was an ardent supporter of American independence. He served as secretary of the Board of War, working closely with [[Robert Morris]] to raise money and supplies for the Continental Army.<ref>Royce Shingleton, ''Richard Peters: Champion of the New South'' (Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1985), 6, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/WN5FMNI2 view on Zotero]; Samuel Breck, ''Address Delivered before the Blockley and Merion Agricultural Society, on Saturday, September 29th, 1828, on the Death on [sic] Their Late President, The Hon. Richard Peters'' (Philadelphia: Lydia R. Bailey, 1828), 6–15, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/INU66QCU view on Zotero]; Richard Peters Jr., \u201cBelmont Mansion,\u201d ''Proceedings of the Numismatic and Antiquarian Society of Philadelphia'' 30 (1925): 85–86, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/NFTXIF6S view on Zotero].</ref> He also represented Pennsylvania in the Continental Congress (1782–83) and served as a member of the Pennsylvania Assembly from 1787 to 1792. Renowned for his lively wit and generous hospitality, Peters hosted many prominent Americans and foreign visitors at [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]], particularly during the years that Philadelphia served as the seat of the federal government (1790–1800).<ref>Richard Peters and Samuel Breck, \u201cA Collection of Puns and Witticisms of Judge Richard Peters,\u201d ''Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography'' 253 (1901): 366–69, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/6ZDNIWV3 view on Zotero]; Rufus Wilmot Griswold, ''The Republican Court: Or American Society in the Days of Washington'' (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1855), 264–65, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/2FR244CI view on Zotero].</ref> Among those who strolled [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont\u2019s]] gardens and discussed agriculture and politics with Peters were George Washington, John Quincy Adams, James Madison, John Jay, and the Marquis de Lafayette.<ref>Nellie Peters Black, ''Richard Peters, His Ancestors and Descendants: 1810–1889'' (Atlanta: Foote & Davies, 1904), 92, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/TM8MFVBZ view on Zotero]; Peters 1925: 88–89, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/NFTXIF6S view on Zotero].</ref> \n\nPeters actively experimented with new scientific methods of agriculture and animal husbandry intended to improve the productivity of American farms. The use of plaster of Paris as a fertilizing agent, which he recommended in a widely circulated pamphlet published in 1797 (with a dedication to his friend George Washington), influenced the methods of other gentlemen farmers, including Washington and [[Thomas Jefferson]], with whom he frequently corresponded on agricultural matters.<ref>Benjamin R. Cohen, ''Notes from the Ground: Science, Soil, and Society in the American Countryside'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2009), 38–40, 97, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/MGKGZIKZ view on Zotero]. See also Richard Peters, ''Agricultural Enquiries on Plaister of Paris: Also Facts, Observations and Conjectures on That Sub[s]tance, When Applied as Manure: Collected, Chiefly from the Practice of Farmers in Pennsylvania, and Published as Much with a View to Invite, as to Give Information'' (Philadelphia: Charles Cist and John Markland, 1797), [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/P3C9I8MC view on Zotero].</ref> Peters went on to promote scientific methods of agriculture in ''A Discourse on Agriculture: Its Antiquity and Importance to Every Member of the Community'' (1816) and in more than 100 reports published under the auspices of the Philadelphia Society for the Promotion of Agriculture (founded in 1785), of which he was a charter member, and president from 1805 to 1828. Under his leadership, the Society gained new momentum, organizing exhibitions of farm products and labor-saving machinery, analyzing seeds and plant specimens, and distributing foreign seeds to American farmers.<ref>Simon Baatz, ''\u201cVenerate the Plough\u201d; A History of the Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, 1785–1985'' (Philadelphia: Philadelphia Society for Promoting Agriculture, 1985), [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/W3KPMSDN view on Zotero]; Shingleton, 1985, 7–8, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/WN5FMNI2 view on Zotero]; Breck 1828, 23–26, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/6ZDNIWV3 view on Zotero].</ref> Peters also founded the Merion Society for Promoting Agriculture and Rural Economy in 1790, serving as its president for 38 years, and as a judge of the U.S. District Court of Pennsylvania from 1792 until his death in 1828. \n\nIn the late 1790s Peters spearheaded the planning and construction of a permanent [[bridge]] over the [[Schuylkill River]] (opened in 1805) which made it possible to commute to Philadelphia from country houses such as [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]], rendering the west side of the [[Schuylkill River|Schuylkill]] truly suburban.<ref>Frank Griggs Jr., \u201cThe Permanent Bridge,\u201d ''Structure Magazine'' (October 2013), http://www.structuremag.org/?p=817; Peters 1825, 86–87, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/NFTXIF6S view on Zotero]; Reinberger 1998, 33, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/UWBTRV23 view on Zotero]. See also Richard Peters, ''A Statistical Account of the Schuylkill Permanent Bridge: Communicated to the Philadelphia Society of Agriculture, 1806'' (Philadelphia: Johnson & Warner, 1815), [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/JCCE54JT view on Zotero].</ref> In recognition of his service, one of the [[bridge]] posts was decorated with a portrait of Peters in a bronze medallion.<ref>Breck 1828, 19–20, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/INU66QCU view on Zotero].</ref> Along with Benjamin Franklin, he was one of the first non-Quakers to join the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery. Peters also served for several years as president of the American Convention of Antislavery Societies, corresponded with many British abolitionists, and campaigned against the Fugitive Slave Act of 1793.<ref>Kathryn Kish Sklar and James Brewer Stewart, ''Women\u2019s Rights and Transatlantic Antislavery in the Era of Emancipation'' (New Haven: Yale University Press, 2007), 146, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/IDUZ3ADU view on Zotero]; Edward Needles, ''An Historical Memoir of the Pennsylvania Society for Promoting the Abolition of Slavery'' (Philadelphia: Merrihew and Thompson, 1848), 29, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/N6FFE2GZ view on Zotero].</ref> His multifarious activities reportedly caused Peters to neglect [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]], which some described as presenting a shabby appearance. When taken to task for the derelict appearance of his fields, the judge reportedly delivered the riposte, \u201cHow can you expect me . . . to attend to all these things when my time is so taken up in telling others how to farm?\"<ref>Harold Donaldson Eberlein and Horace Mather Lippincott, ''The Colonial Homes of Philadelphia and Its Neighbourhood'' (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott Company, 1912), 149, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/H8PJNXCV view on Zotero].</ref> \n\n\u2014''Robyn Asleson''\n\n<hr>\n\n==Texts==\n\n*Chastellux, Fran\u00e7ois Jean, Marquis de, c. 1780–82, ''Travels in North America'' (1787: 1:304)<ref name=\"Chastellux_1787\"> Chastellux 1787, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/ITD6E8FB view on Zotero].</ref>\n \n:\u201cNothing can equal the beauties of the coup d'oeil which the banks of the [[Schuylkill River|Schuylkill]] present, in descending towards the south to return to Philadelphia.\n\n:\u201cI found a pretty numerous company assembled at dinner at the Chevalier de la Luzerne\u2019s, which was augmented by the arrival of the Comte de Custine and the M. de Laval. In the evening we took them to see the President of the Congress, who was not at home, and then to Mr. Peters, the Secretary to the Board of War, to whom it was my first visit. His house is not large, nor his office of great importance.\u201d\n\n\n*Anonymous English translator of Marquis De Chastellux, c. 1787, ''Travels in North America, 1780–81–82'' (1787: 1:301)<ref name =\"Chastellux_1787\"> Chastellux 1787, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/ITD6E8FB view on Zotero].</ref>\n\n:\u201cThe beautiful banks of the [[Schuylkill River|Schuylkill]] are every where covered with elegant country houses; among others, those of [[Springettsbury|Mr. Penn]], the late proprietor, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Peters, late Secretary to the Board of War, are on the most delightful situations. The tasty little box of the last gentleman is on the most enchanting spot that nature can embellish, and besides the variegated beauties of the rural banks of the [[Schuylkill River|Schuylkill]], commands the Delaware, and the shipping mounting and descending it, where it is joined at right angles by the former. From hence is the most romantic ride up the river to the Falls, in which the opposite bank is likewise seen beautifully interspersed with the country houses of the opulent citizens of the capital. On your arrival at the Falls, every little knoll or [[eminence]] is occupied by one of these charming retreats.\u201d\n\n\n*Watson, Joshua Rowley, June 17, 1816, diary entry describing a visit to [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]] (quoted in Foster 1997: 292–93)<ref>Kathleen A. Foster, ''Captain Watson\u2019s Travels in America: The Sketchbooks and Diary of Joshua Rowley Watson, 1772–1818'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1997), [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/J6Q29IVS view on Zotero].</ref>\n\n:\u201cIn the evening I accompanied my Uncle over to [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Bellmont]] to pay my respects to Judge Peters—the House is finely situated and looks down on the [[Schuylkill River|River Schuylkill]] command[ing] a view of the grounds of Lansdown, Eaglesfield and the distance closed by the City & Jersies. He show\u2019d me his Gardens and [[Orchard]]s in the latter of which was a variety of Grasses, but I saw none of that sort which in England is commonly called ''Heaver''. In the Garden he show\u2019d me a Chesnut Tree which General Washington planted, the day he came out to take leave of his old friend. . . He has promised me some fruit from it, & a young tree of the same. . .\n\n:\u201cI was also shown a [[grove]] of Pines in which the General used frequently to walk in and converse with the Judge. . .\n\n:\"[[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Bellmont]] house is old, but is well built of stone and like all the Country houses, has a [[Piazza]] in front. I don't see why those in England should not have the same, which would secure a fine airy walk in all weathers, besides being ornamental to the building.\u201d\n\n\n* Breck, Samuel, September 29, 1828, ''Address Delivered before the Blockley and Merion Agricultural Society'' (1828: 78–79)<ref>Breck 1828, [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/INU66QCU view on Zotero].</ref>\n\n:\u201cThe President who placed him on the bench, knew him [Richard Peters] well, and took great delight in his society. When a morning of leisure permitted that great man to drive to [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]], the birth-place and country residence of Judge Peters, it was his constant habit so to do. There, sequestered from the world,—the torments and cares of business, Washington would enjoy a vivacious, recreative, and wholly unceremonious intercourse with the Judge; walking for hours, side by side, in the beautiful gardens of [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]], beneath the dark shade of lofty hemlocks, placed there by his ancestors, nearly a century ago. In those romantic grounds, there stands a chestnut tree, reared from a Spanish nut, planted by the hand of Washington. Large, healthy, and fruitful, it is cherished at [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|Belmont]], as a precious evidence of the intimacy that subsisted between those distinguished men. The stranger who visits these umbrageous [[walk]]s, trimmed and decorated in the style of the seventeenth century, pauses amid \u2018clipt [[hedge]]s of pyramids, [[obelisk]]s, and balls,\u2019 formed by the evergreen and compact spruce, to contemplate this thriving tree, and carry back his memory to the glorious virtuous career of him who placed it there.\u201d \n\n\n*[[Andrew Jackson Downing|Downing, Andrew Jackson]], 1844, ''A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening'' (1844: 31–32, 33)<ref>Andrew Jackson Downing, ''A Treatise on the Theory and Practice of Landscape Gardening, Adapted to North America'', 2nd ed. (New York: Wiley and Putnam, 1844), [https://www.zotero.org/groups/54737/items/itemKey/X7DED2X9 view on Zotero].</ref>\n\n:\u201cThe [[seat]] of the late Judge Peters [[Belmont (Philadelphia)|[Belmont]]], about five miles from Philadelphia, was, 30 years ago, a noted specimen of the [[ancient style|ancient]] school of [[landscape gardening]]. Its proprietor had a most extended reputation as a scientific agriculturist, and his place was also no less remarkable for the design and culture of its [[pleasure ground|pleasure-grounds]], than for the excellence of its farm. Long and stately [[avenue]]s, with [[vista]]s terminated by [[obelisk]]s, a garden adorned with marble [[vase]]s, busts and [[statue]]s, and [[pleasure ground]]s filled with the rarest trees and shrubs, were conspicuous features here. Some of the latter are now so remarkable as to attract strongly the attention of the visitor. Among them, is the chestnut planted by Washington which produces the largest and finest fruit; very large hollies; and a curious old box tree much higher than the mansion near which it stands. But the most striking feature now, is the still remaining grand old [[avenue]] of hemlocks, (''Abies canadensis''.) Many of these trees, which were planted 100 years ago, are now venerable specimens, ninety feet high, whose huge trunks and wide spread branches, are in many cases densely wreathed and draped with masses of English Ivy, forming the most [[picturesque]], sylvan objects we ever beheld. . .\u201d\n\n:\u201cJudge Peters\u2019 [[seat]], [[Lemon Hill]], and Clermont were of the [[ancient style]], in the earliest period of the history of [[landscape gardening|Landscape Gardening]] among us.\u201d\n\n<hr>\n\n==Images==\n<span id=\"roundabout_img\"></span>\n<gallery widths=\"170px\" heights=\"170px\" perrow=\"4\">\n\nFile:0301.jpg|William Russell Birch, \u201c[[View]] from [[Belmont_(Philadelphia,_PA)|Belmont]] Pennsyl.<sup>a</sup> the [[Seat]] of Judge Peters,\u201d in ''The Country [[Seat]]s of the United States'' (1808), pl. 16.\n\n</gallery>\n\n<hr>\n\n==Notes==\n<references/>\n\n<hr>\n\n[[Category:People|Peters, Richard]]"
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