Personal Stories of Bucks County, Pennsylvania


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Judy G. Martin

email: [Contact David Hanauer for this e-mail address]

When I was a little girl in the mid-1940's I lived with my familiy-- mother, father and brother--on a dairy farm in Perkasie. It was located around Bedministerville. My dad was the caretaker-farmer and my mother the housekeeper and gardener. My brother and I played and attended school.

The main residence

The farm was owned by Ted Steele, at various times an orchestra leader for the Stork Club in New York City, for the Chesterfield Supper Club on NBC radio, and an emcee for an afternoon Teen Bandstand on WOR-TV in New York. He had been a bandleader and conductor for many famous singers in the forties including Perry Como, Frank Sinatra, Louis Prima and Jo Stafford. His was a continual presence on radio and TV through the late 1950's when he had his own disk jockey show on WMCA. He cut some records for Decca. It would be impossible to list all his show business activities, because he started young. Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Ted was a musical prodigy who won a scholarship to the New England Conservatory of Music when he was eight years old.

Full view of the farm

While music was his career, animals and breeding were his love. He raised rabbits and guinea pigs in Pearl River, NY and during the WWII years organized his farm to raise some 15,000 animals exclusively for government use.

However, this energetic musician always wanted to work with cows and in 1945 he and his wife, Doris, bought a 125-acre farm in Perkasie. He tended the rabbit farm during weekday mornings; went to New York City to play his music in the afternoon and evenings; and spent weekends on his dairy farm.

The farmer's cottage (my home)

At one point, the farm was for sale because of a call for Ted to go Hollywood, and the directions on the sale brochure stated:

Drive out York road through Doylestown, continuing out Route 611 six miles to Plumsteadville. Turn left on second cross road in Plumsteadville 4 miles to Bedminsterville. Turn left one mile to first cross road (hard dirt road), turn right one mile to farm.

Front view of the barn

However, the farm was not sold at that time and Ted owned the farm at least until 1955 which by then was 500 acres. By that time our family had moved on to greener and more lucrative pastures.

My memories are seen through eyes of a very young child. We lived first on the Pearl River farm then the Bucks County farm. As I remember, our days were idyllic. My brother and I both attended a one-room school house. There was the traditional pot-bellied stove in the middle of the room. I learned so much by listening to the teacher instruct the older students. My brother and I either walked through the pastures to get there, or he rode me on his bicycle. One day, my foot caught in the spokes and we took a spectacular spill. That was the end of that mode of transportation. I watched my dad milk the cows while he tunelessly sang, "Have you ever been lonely? Have you ever been blue?" I played with Ted's and Doris' two daughters, Susan and Sally, two years and three years younger than me, respectively. I wonder where they are today?

View of the pump house

Our family only lived in Bucks County for a year, but it tells a lot about the area that my family still reminisces to this day of those wonderful times. Ted and Doris divorced in 1955 and we all lost track of each other. I believe Ted died about 1985. I don't know if Doris is alive, or where their daughters might be. My dad died in 1962, but my mother is alive at 89 and brightens visibly when we discuss Perkasie and Doylestown and New Hope.

Machinery house and garage

I have included photos of the farm and the Ted Steele family. I would be so pleased to know that the farm still exists, if anyone knows. Further, if anyone remembers Ted Steele and has information about him, I'd be happy to exchange details. [see below]

Ted and Doris Steele play with their daughters, Sally and Susan in the main residence

Ted and Doris at the Stork Club where he often led his orchestra

PR Photo of Ted which he signed for my Aunt Irene

One of Ted's sheet music

Ted and Doris at their Pearl River, NY farm

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The following photographs, taken in November 2006, were provided by Al Hillmantel:

These are a few pics of the farm Judy Martin lived at while attending the little one room school. The farm as you can see is still in very good condition and has some improvements done on the barn front.