UPPER MERION — On October 7, 2021 at approximately 4:30pm local woman Anna Morris Holstein, 1825 – 1900, was honored with the first Pennsylvania Historical Museum Commission marker in King of Prussia. It is not the first such marker in Upper Merion Township. Others previously erected were located in Gulph Mills, marking the Continental Army encampment, Bird In Hand General Store and Gulph Mills Village. The Anna Holstein marker and former Holstein family home are located at 211 S. Henderson Road near the Henderson Park section of town.
The new PHMC marker celebrates the achievements and life of Mrs. Holstein, a Civil War nurse, author, co- savior of Mt. Vernon and Washington’s Headquarters at Valley Forge and first Regent of the Valley Forge Daughters of the American Revolution. Anna Holstein is only the second woman in Montgomery County so honored; Lucretia Mott of Cheltenham, suffragist and abolitionist was the first.
During the Civil War Anna Holstein served as a Field Nurse in Virginia and Maryland. She subsequently was appointed Matron in Charge of Letterman Hospital in Gettysburg. Directly after the Civil War Mrs. Holstein wrote a book under the pseudonym “Mrs. H” about her experiences entitled Three Years in Field Hospitals of the Army of the Potomac. In 1892 she wrote a second book: The Swedish Holsteins in America from 1644 to 1892 on Holstein family history. In 1893 she served as Pennsylvania Regent to The World’s Columbian Exposition commonly known as the Chicago World’s Fair. The Fair was held to celebrate the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’ arrival in the New World in 1492.
Attending the Anna Holstein marker dedication was a gathering of more than three dozen local and state officials, representatives of the King of Prussia Historical Society, Norristown Preservation Society, family of the current owners of the one-time Holstein home and many interested individuals.
Afterwards a celebration was held at the King of Prussia Diner on Town Center Road. The proceeds of a raffle were donated to the Upper Merion Area Community Cupboard. This historic marker was the culmination of the work of many disparate groups and agencies. Among them the Daughters of the American Revolution, the King of Prussia Historical Society, Anna Holstein researcher Camryn Schwartz, PA State Senator Amanda Cappelletti, PA State Rep. Tim Briggs, Upper Merion Township and UM Historical Commission, Montgomery County, Valley Forge National Park, Preservation Alliance and Pennsylvania Historic Preservation Board and the current owners of the property.
The former Holstein home is one of a number of still standing historic structures in Upper Merion. Another, the Moore-Irwin house, the former Winter Quarters Farm, the one-time farm home of Jane Moore, stands at 700 Moore Road. Plans are being investigated to restore and reuse the historic house and property. Anna Morris Holstein, local hero and national figure, a woman of whom Upper Merion, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania and the nation can be justly proud.
