About Tour Guide Ned D.

Hello! My name is Ned. The Liberty Bell and Independence Hall are "must-sees", but there is so much more to Philadelphia. Come explore this amazing city with me!

FIRST PERSON TOURING

I believe that travelers and sightseers deserve a “first person” experience while touring. Visitors should not only learn and understand this remarkable place/person/thing/event but they should “feel” it, as well. Primary sources provide the best narratives and are the most reliable. As much as possible, these experiences should be delivered in the context of the moment so that the visitor is fully immersed in the experience. This is the goal of my tours.

My family is an original Philadelphia family (greeted William Penn when he first arrived) and family members have always written about Philadelphia history. My great aunt. Catherine D. Bowen, wrote "Miracle at Philadelphia" about the

Constitutional Convention. My 4th great-grandmother Elizabeth Sandwith D. kept a diary about Philadelphia from 1758 to 1807 which is an invaluable source for historians. She traveled from Philadelphia to Valley Forge during the encampment of the revolutionary army there to seek the release of her husband, and other prominent Quakers, who had been exiled to Virginia for refusing to swear an oath supporting the revolutionary cause. Their religion forbade the swearing of such an oath even though they were staunch patriots. Another ancestor, Sidney George Fisher, kept an important diary from 1834 -1871. I am, also, descended from Arthur Middleton of Charleston, South Carolina, who was a signer of the Declaration of Independence and an important South Carolinian and plantation owner. On my grandmother's side was James Logan, William Penn's secretary, later a mayor of Philadelphia, who built Stenton Mansion in what is now North Philadelphia.

As a lifelong resident of the Philadelphia area I am familiar with, and ready to provide tours for, all of its attractions. Included in these are: Independence National

Historical Park and nearby sights and museums, the Barnes Foundation, the Philadelphia Museum of Art, the Japanese House and Garden, Bartram's Garden, the Pennsylvania Dutch country, Valley Forge, Longwood Gardens, Winterthur,

revolutionary battlefields, colleges and universities, New Hope, the shrines of St John Neumann and Our Lady of Czestochowa, and many more.

Please let me know of your interests and I will research and create an experience that you will not soon forget.