Margaret Ellen (Hinton) Choate died on April 5, 2017 in Horsham, Pa. at the age of 69. She and her husband, Peter Choate, founded the Horsham Preservation and Historical Society in 1997. In 2002 they both retired to work full time for this organization.

Margaret was born in Philadelphia to Elsie and William Hinton. She grew up in Southampton, PA and graduated from William Tennant High school. Margaret worked in banking for 25 years for First Pennsylvania/CoreStates Bank, retiring in 1994 from the Horsham branch as Manager and Assistant Vice President. Margaret had a love of music, especially organ music by Virgil Fox. She and Pete found happiness together in 1977 and would have been married 40 years this November (2017).

Pete and Margaret are shown below horsing around on the statue marking the grave of Welsh Strawbridge’s favorite steeplechaser, River Breeze. The Penrose-Strawbridge House is behind them.

More about Peter.

Business Owners

After retiring from banking, she and Pete purchased the Village Bookmark store near the Horsham bank. Together they became business owners, local historians and preservationists. Margaret was always active in preservation and restoration work. Never afraid to pick up a hammer, saw or paint brush, she was a “hands on” restoration worker. Peter, her loving husband, was always supportive and by her side in her endeavors.

Love of Historic Homes

Margaret and Pete shared a love of historic homes and buildings. She and Pete purchased and restored a small farmhouse in Horsham. This fueled their interest in helping to preserve and restore other historic homes in Horsham Township

Margaret began a second career in historic preservation. She founded the Horsham Preservation and Historical Association in 1997 and helped form the Horsham Historic Advisory Committee for Horsham Township. As part of her work with this committee she did a survey and created an inventory of all older homes in the township. The committee then created a historic overlay to encourage preservation of these homes

Penrose-Strawbridge House

The Penrose-Strawbridge House is a c1721 farmhouse located on what was originally Sir William Keith’s Fountain Low Estate. This later became Graeme Park under Keith’s son-in-law and in 1920 was purchased by Welsh and Margaret Strawbridge. The Strawbridges donated a 42 acre portion of this farm to the state in 1958. This parcel is now known as Graeme Park and is a PA State Park The remaining 102 acres of the Strawbridge Farm was acquired by Horsham Township in 1996 after the death of Mrs Strawbridge. HPHA entered into a lease with the township to restore the buildings on this farm and in 2002 Margaret and Pete officially retired from their business and became full time caretakers and restorers of this property.

The photo above shows Pete and Margaret and HPHA member/gardner Marian with Township Manager Bill Walker along with members of Horsham Township Council in front of the farm house October 2, 2014.

The photo below shows Margaret in the basement of the c1721 cabin at the center of the farmhouse.

Historic Preservation

Margaret earned a certificate in historic preservation from Bucks County Community College. She was able to use her real world project at the farm as part of her course work. As part of this she researched the ownership of the property ⁽⁵⁾ from Samual Carpenter through Sir William Keith to the Strawbidges to the current owner Horsham Township (there’s actually a lot more).

Margaret also worked with Arhcitectural Historian Herb Levy and Margaret Westfield, partner at Westfield Architects & Preservation Consultants researching the history of the building ⁽⁴⁰⁾ and assisted with developing a feasibility plan (135) on how to restore it. This study was then used to secure a $250,000 Keystone Grant to begin the restoration.

Margaret is shown below with an exterior wall than she and Herb Levy uncovered behind an interior wall in the front 1810 addition to the house.

Heart and Soul of HPHA

Margaret was not someone who liked a lot of attention. She liked to work behind the scenes out of the spotlight. Pete Choate was the fundraiser, the guy who recruited people, organized volunteers and was the face of HPHA. But Margaret did a lot of the grunt work and was the driving force behind the group. She knew how to get things done and wasn’t afraid to get her hands dirty. Pete knew she was in charge.

Margaret was also a kind and gentle person, like Pete, who was always willing to offer her time and talents. She was a great friend.

Margaret is survived by her devoted husband, Peter J. Choate (Pete unfortunately passed away in 2025) and her son, Peter L. Robotham, daughter-in- law Julie Meyers Robotham, grandsons Parker and Jace of Sandy, Utah, her step-daughter, Lisa Ropski, son-in- law Stan and grandchildren Casie and Kyle of Ambler; her sisters, Elsie Boyd of Southampton and Elizabeth and Horace (Chip) Ott of Doylestown, plus many nieces and nephews.