Recalling President Kennedy's 1963 Grey Towers visit

Sixty years ago, President John Fitzgerald Kennedy visited Milford Township, Pike County, to dedicate the Pinchot Institute for Conservation Studies at Grey Towers National Historic Site. His appearance on Tuesday, Sept. 24, 1963, two months before his assassination, helped assure the memory of his appearance would be profound for many years to come.

Several thousand people assembled on the sunny lawn to greet the president.

Rev. Jackie Mohrmann, of Honesdale, was there. "I believe it was a bus that went from the school (Honesdale High)," she recalled. "It was a beautiful day and another classmate and I were fortunate enough to be standing along the driveway that the car came that was bringing him. He went right by us, and it was a convertible, so we got a good look at him and that was the closest we got to him. We were meandering around the grounds when we happened to come up to the road just when the car came by, so it was perfect timing. It really was exciting to see him that close."

"We were so close to him and then how saddened we were that a short time later he was gone," she reflected.

Her classmate and friend, Lynda Richards, recalls being close to a fenced off area when he walked by. She thought he was "incredibly handsome." Roberts also recalls sitting on the hillside to watch.

Grey Towers was the boyhood home of Gifford Pinchot who became the nation's first United States forester and twice served as Pennsylvania governor. A leader in the early American conservation movement, he and his wife Cornelia later resided there. The property is now operated by the U.S. Forest Service.

His son, Gifford Bryce Pinchot, had arranged for his family to donate the estate to the American people to serve as the home for environmental education and studies.

The Pinchot Institute for Conservation Studies is a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit dedicated to advancing conservation and sustainable natural resource management by using research, education, and technical assistance.

The late Randolph "Skip" Gregory, who became Milford mayor and county commissioner, was serving with the Milford Volunteer Fire Department when Kennedy arrived. Gregory was in the field near a firetruck where the president's helicopter landed.

"The whole town turned out. Everyone was exuberant. We couldn't wait for it to happen," Gregory recalled in an interview for the Times Herald Record for the 50th anniversary of Kennedy's visit.

Kennedy was a Democrat, but he touched many Americans regardless of party. This could be seen by the recollections of two late Hawley residents, stalwarts in their differing political philosophies, who were interviewed by this writer in 2010. They are Mildred "Millie" Compton, longtime Republican volunteer, and Marjorie Murphy, a longtime Wayne County Democratic committeewoman.

"It all began when I was a little one," Compton recalled. "Dad took me to a fundraiser for Gifford Pinchot."

Pinchot caught 5-year-old Millie in his eye. He picked her up and set her on a chair following dinner. "He said, 'This is where Republicanism begins.'" Pinchot handed her a little white ivory elephant, which she continued to wear on her charm bracelet.

On Sept. 24, 1963, there was a huge crowd there when Compton arrived at Grey Towers and parked her car. "Lo and behold," she recalled, "Mr. Kennedy's car came." He got out of his limousine, and walked over and shook her hand in the parking lot, expressing how glad he was she came to see him. "He hugged me," Compton said.

Murphy took their three children born by that time, Susan, Carlon and John, out of school to see Kennedy at Grey Towers. "It was a very exciting time," she recalled. "He was very charismatic."

Susan (Murphy) Gabrielson was nine. She said her mother was very excited. The Murphys were far up on the hill in the crowd. Susan could not make out what her frustrated mother was describing to tell her which one was JFK.

"She kept saying it is that one, the one who has beautiful white teeth and whatever his tie was... I kept saying, I can’t see that much... and so she finally counted the line of people and told me where in line he was, as they were walking up to the podium,” Susan recalled. "My mother was so upset that I couldn’t see all the details she could see, she took me to the eye doctor and that’s when we found out I needed glasses. So, you might say President Kennedy help me see the world in a better light!”

Grey Towers recorded the recollection of Laura Guccini Engle, who is now an officer of the Wallenpaupack Historical Society. Her grandparents took her and her now-late cousin Anita to Milford. Her grandmother packed lunch. “I remember it was very exciting that we should see the president.” She said they had only a glimpse because of the crowd. “There was a lot of applause and a lot of excitement... Children were on shoulders to get a glimpse of the president.”

Milford was the first stop for Kennedy's 11-state tour of conservation areas.

The crowd assembled at the natural amphitheater was estimated to exceed 5,000 people; other sources doubled that number. School buses shuttled visitors from Milford's ballpark.

Once the president's helicopter landed at 1 p.m., Kennedy greeted people, and toured the Grey Towers mansion. He then rode in a convertible to the speaker's platform. He spoke for 20 minutes. At 2:30 p.m., the president and his party left in four helicopters to Stewart Air Force Base.

Milford prepares for the president

The Pike County Dispatch editorialized, "Milford will never be the same again. It is suddenly transformed from its pristine calm and quiet summer resort life into a national significance, with a conservational institution honoring the man [Gifford Pinchot] into the limelight three generations ago...

"The startling suddenness with which this community was notified of its new life and greater prominence caught the populace unaware," the Dispatch continued. "But they immediately took cognizance of the national importance of the event...”

In preparation, crews installed additional phones and electrical lines. Workers put the grounds and water system in shape and put in new roads.

Volunteers installed 125 American flags on Harford and Broad Streets in Milford. The Garden Club, Chamber of Commerce, fire and police departments and the school system all got busy. Delaware Valley Joint High School band performed “Hail to the Chief” when Kennedy appeared. Pennsylvania State Police assisted the many Secret Service agents. Mayor Maurice May had declared it a holiday.

A goblet of Dorflinger cut glass hand-blown in 1917 in White Mills was accepted by a White House official for President and Mrs. Kennedy. The gift was on behalf of both the Lake Wallenpaupack Association, led by Harry Kiesendahl, and the Milford Chamber of Commerce. Chamber Secretary Norman Lehde made the arrangements.

The Secret Service forbade the presentation during Kennedy's Grey Towers visit, as intended. The goblet arrived at the White House on Nov. 18. Lehde received a thank-you note from Mrs. Kennedy, dated Nov. 19. The president was assassinated Nov. 22, in Dallas, Texas.

Dorflinger Glass Museum, White Mills, has a copy of the goblet.

Kennedy's legacy in Pike County

In 1964, the triangular park at the east end of East Harford Street in Milford, was dedicated to the late president with a plaque.

It is not clear to what extent the Grey Towers visit had on Pike County voters, but in 1964 for the first time in many years, which has so far not been repeated, a Democrat won the presidency in Pike. That was Lyndon B. Johnson, Kennedy's vice president who was sworn in as president hours after Kennedy was assassinated.

Most Pike County voters had chosen Republican Richard Nixon over Kennedy in 1960.

At Grey Towers, the Forest Service currently has a small exhibit commemorating the 60th anniversary of Kennedy’s visit. It can be seen with a mansion tour ticket purchase through Dec. 17, 2023. (The public may tour the grounds for free.) A looping video of Kennedy's arrival and speech can be seen as part of their visitor films in the Bait Box daily from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information, call 570-296-9630 or visit online: fs.usda.gov/greytowers and greytowers.org.

Peter Becker has worked at the Tri-County Independent or its predecessor publications since 1994. Reach him at pbecker@tricountyindependent.com or 570-253-3055 ext. 1588.

This article originally appeared on Tri-County Independent: Pike-area residents recall Grey Towers hosting JFK 60 years ago