Page 47 - The Hunt - Fall 2022

like those already in Marshallton and Kennett Square and another that’s close to opening in East Bradford Township—and then onto battlefield-specific interpretative sites like Birmingham Hill. “This is a tour concept, but not a bus-tour concept,” says Jeannine Speirs, a 20-year senior community planner for the Chester County Planning Commission who’s also a Brandywine Battlefield Task Force administrator. “A small-group experience is an underrated aspect. These are hallowed grounds—and you wouldn’t get the same experience with a lot of people.”
In the end, when a bout of dehydration initiated a rapid six-week decline, Odell and
the conservancy were more like-minded than ever. “She hated development and complained that some developments were getting too close,” her son says.
(Here and above) Bobby Odell at Skirmish Hill Farm.
Within a mile of Birmingham Hill Preserve, about 649 acres are permanently protected. But many open parcels remain, and some may have additional historical significance. Military historians have been hired with more American Battlefield Protection Program grant funds to study the surrounding existing terrain, matching findings with first- and secondhand war accounts, county archives and other records, to confirm what’s known about the Battle of Brandywine’s key geography and events. “We’re excited to understand a fuller history,” says Armpriester. “The battle action took place over a much larger area than the design of what’s already the National Historic Landmark. It’s like a scavenger hunt. We don’t know what we’ll find. We continue to beat the drum.”
As did Bobby Odell, until the end. Late in life, a fall from a horse while foxhunting put her in a coma. “Doctors said she wouldn’t make it, but she did,” her son says. “She recouped in Pittsburgh. Then we took her back to the farm, and she made it clear she never wanted to leave there again.”
In the end, when a bout of dehydration initiated a rapid six-week decline, Odell and the conservancy were more like-minded than ever. “She hated development and complained that some developments were getting too close,” her son says. “Even though developers had always offered her tons of money— stupid money—she wanted to make sure nothing changed. She wanted to live on the farm forever.” TH
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COURTESY OF KAT HAST