Weekend Historical Happenings: 4/13/13 - 4/14/13

WEEKEND HISTORICAL HAPPENINGS

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Saturday, April 13 - Port Norris, Cumberland County

Volunteer Training

Learn to sail the historic 1928 oyster schooner A. J. Meerwald, and a myriad of other volunteer opportunities from education to waitressing in our café, cooking, working in the office, mailings, you name it: if you have a skill or if you have none, we can use you! Discover your hidden talents at this series of learning Saturdays, from 9:00 am - 3:00 pm. For more information or to register, contact Laura S. Johnson, ljohnson@bayshorediscovery.org; 856-785-2060 ext. 102. www.bayshorediscovery.org

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Saturday, April 13 - Lebanon Township, Hunterdon County

Cemetery Cleanup

On Saturday beginning at 9:00 am, The Friends of Old Swack Church and cemetery grounds in Lebanon Township are sponsoring a cleanup of the grounds. Originally built in 1844, the church closed in 1894 and the grounds have been neglected, abandoned, and overgrown for years. The Old Swackhammer Church and Cemetery is located at 108 Anthony Road, Lebanon, NJ. Please bring rakes, shovels, gloves, clippers, chainsaws, and any other tools that you think may be helpful in clearing the grounds. Tell your friends and family about this opportunity to preserve a New Jersey historic site!

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Saturday, April 13 - Morristown, Morris County

Revolutionary Morristown: Then and Now

Morristown has changed greatly since the revolution. Join a Park Ranger at the Museum for a presentation on how Morristown has changed but also stayed the same – through old paintings, photographs and postcards – and how these glimpses of the past tell our revolutionary story. Program at 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm, and 3:00 pm at the  Washington’s Headquarters Museum within Morristown National Historical Park. Cost: $4.00 per adult. www.nps.gov/morr

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Saturday, April 13 - Bridgewater, Somerset County

Breakfast with Phillip Van Horne

In the predawn darkness of April 13th, 1777, British General Cornwallis led a four-pronged attack on the American garrison at Bound Brook and the Van Horne House. General Benjamin Lincoln, whose headquarters was at the Van Horne house, barely escaped capture by fleeing into the hills. After the battle, General Cornwallis was served breakfast at the Van Horne House by Philip Van Horne who was known far and wide as a gracious host.

Start your commemoration of the Battle of Bound Brook at the Van Horne House at 8:30 am and learn more about the historical event. The battle reenactment and ceremony will commence at the Old Presbyterian Graveyard in Bound Brook at 10:30 am. The cost of the breakfast is $5 per person with advanced payment, and $10 with payment at the door. Reservations are required. Call 732-356-8856 for reservations, or sign up online at www.heritagetrail.org.

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Saturday, April 13 - Union Township, Union County

The Girls of Liberty Hall - A Children's Afternoon Tea & Fashion Show

Guests will be treated to a luncheon of scones, breads, finger sandwiches, sweet treats, lemonade, iced tea and sherbet punch on real china while watching a fashion show of reproduction historic children's clothing from colonial times through the early   twentieth century. There will also be a dress up/play tent, games and prizes. $25.00 per person. THe program runs from 1:00 - 3:00 p.m. Reservations are required. Call 908-527-0400. Liberty Hall Museum is located at 1003 Morris Ave, Union, NJ. www.kean.edu/libertyhall

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Saturday, April 13 - Trenton, Mercer County

2013 Trenton Ceramics Symposium

The Potteries of Trenton Society (POTS), in association with the New Jersey State Museum and Trenton Museum Society, is pleased to announce the 2013 Trenton Ceramics Symposium, which will explore the nature and potential of the Trenton Potteries Database. The Symposium is scheduled for Saturday in the Auditorium of the New Jersey State Museum on West State Street, Trenton.

POTS was founded in 1999 as a group effort to support and steward the Trenton Potteries Database, which is a digital compilation of basic information about Trenton's potteries that was created as part of an agreement between the New Jersey Historic Preservation Office and the New Jersey Department of Transportation (NJDOT) to offset the impacts of a couple of NJDOT projects on Trenton pottery sites. During the ensuing years, POTS launched its website and established the annual Symposium, while improving the database and making arrangements with NJDOT to assume its stewardship. The data has formed the basis for several projects undertaken by Hunter Research staff. The current effort is to open the Database to collectors, archaeologists, and scholars through POTS’s website.

The keynote speaker will be William Gates, co-author of The East Liverpool, Ohio, Pottery District: Identification of Manufacturers and Marks (1982) and author of The City of Hills and Kilns: Life and Work in East Liverpool, Ohio (1984). Gates will discuss data collection and interpretation related to his analysis of the ceramics industry in East Liverpool, Ohio and the development of the city's Museum of Ceramics. He will also talk about the relationship between Trenton and East Liverpool as the most important cities in the US ceramic industry.

Additional speakers include POTS President Patricia Madrigal, who will describe the inception and development of the Trenton Potteries Database; Richard Hunter, principal of Hunter Research, who will use the Database to examine the general nature of Trenton's pottery industry, especially as it pertains to the geography of the city; and Hunter archaeologist William Liebeknecht, who will talk about the Speeler Pottery Company as a case study of the type of analysis for an individual pottery that has been achieved using the Database.

We will also hear from Judi Wells and Scott Anderson about their work of finding Trenton’s potters in the city’s cemeteries. A light breakfast will be available during registration beginning at 9:00 am, and the Symposium program will get underway at 10:00 am. A lunch buffet will be served in the State Museum's west gallery, after which talks will resume in the afternoon. The Symposium talks end at 4:00 pm, and they will be followed by a reception at Ellarslie.

The Trenton Ceramics Symposium is open to the public. $40 registration fee payable at the door. POTS cannot take credit cards, but checks are welcome. Registration includes all lectures, lunch, and the Ellarslie reception. For more information, contact POTS President Patricia Madrigal at 609-695-0122 x 100 or president@potteriesoftrentonsociety.org. 

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Saturday, April 13 - Jersey City, Hudson County

Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society Meeting

The Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society has an exciting meeting scheduled for Saturday. They will be returning to the New Jersey Room at the Jersey City Library, 472 Jersey Avenue, Jersey City, NJ. They will have a short business meeting at 11:00 am, followed by Hudson County Genealogical and Historical Society member Cynthia Harris who will show some of the treasures that genealogists and historians can find in the New Jersey Room. There is no parking lot at the library. Street parking is available or you can take the light rail. www.hudsoncountynjgenealogy.org

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Saturday, April 13 - Mount Laurel, Burlington County

Tour Paulsdale

Paulsdale is open to the public for Second Saturday Tours at 12:00 noon and 1:00 pm. Paulsdale is the birthplace of Quaker suffragist Alice Paul. Tours include a 15-minute presentation about Alice Paul's life and work and a guided tour of the first floor of the property where visitors learn about the Paul family's daily life in the house and its present day use as a girl's leadership center. Tours are $5.00

Paulsdale is located at 128 Hooton Rd., Mt. Laurel. For information about group tours or future tour dates, contact the Alice Paul Institute at 856-231-1885, e-mail info@alicepaul.org, or visit www.alicepaul.org/events. 

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Saturday, April 13 - Brick Township, Ocean County

Havens Homestead Museum Reopens



The Havens Homestead Museum, operated by the Brick Township Historical Society, will reopen for the new season on Saturday.  The museum and two other buildings on the property are located at 521 Herbertsville Road, Brick, NJ. There will be an art exhibit honoring the rich cultural heritage of art in Brick Township, which dates back to Clara Stroud Colvin and a meeting of artists in her Herbertsville Studio on September 18, 1939, and then, the founding of the Laurelton Art Society in 1980. All artists exhibiting are presently residents of Brick Township and members of the Laurelton Art Society. The exhibit will be on display in the museum from April 13 through May 19. The hours of operation are Saturdays from 10:00 am - 12:00 noon, Sundays from 12:00 noon - 2:00 pm, and closed on holiday weekends. On April 13 there will be extended hours from 10:00 am - 2:00 pm. Admission to the museum is free and donations are appreciated. For more information about the Brick Township Historical Society visit www.bricktwphistoricalsociety.com or call 732-785-2500.

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Saturday - Sunday, April 13 - 14 - South Bound Brook, Somerset County

Battle of Bound Brook

Visit South Bound Brook for an exciting and historic weekend on Saturday and Sunday! The two-day program explores the American Revolutionary War during the timeframe of the Battle of Bound Brook and the American army's use of Middlebrook in the years 1777 - 1779. Learn about and experience this important period in New Jersey's and America's history. Weekend activities include:

*Marching, drilling and street battle reenactments in Bound Brook and South Bound Brook, featuring American and British units portraying the soldiers of the American Revolution.   
*Eighteenth-century soldiers' encampment on the grounds of the Abraham Staats House, 17 von Steuben Lane, South Bound Brook, NJ. Come walk through camp and see what life was like for American and British troops during the time of the American Revolution.
*Historic House Tours:  The Abraham Staats House, with the original structure c. 1740, was home to the Staats family for nearly 200 years and served as the headquarters for George Washington's "Drillmaster" Baron von Steuben.   
*Presentations, exhibits, period music, special activities focused on the Colonial Era. 

Visit  www.staatshouse.org for more information and updates.

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Saturday - Sunday, April 13 - 14 - Trenton, Mercer County

250th Anniversary of the Treaty of Paris

On Saturday and Sunday, the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, in cooperation with the Society of the Colonial Wars in the State of New Jersey and the 1763 Peace of Paris Commemoration Project, will celebrate the 250th Anniversary of the peace treaty that ended the French and Indian War, not only redrawing the map of North America, but, many historians argue, sowing the seeds of Revolution. Generous support from the New Jersey Society of Colonial Wars makes this special program possible.

Throughout the weekend, from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, French and Indian War-era soldiers from the 60th Royal American Regiment; the First or "Royal" Regiment's Grenadier Company; and Capt. Hezekiah Dunn's NJ Ranging Company will inhabit the Old Barracks. The soldiers will drill, mount guard, and prepare to leave behind their winter quarters-some, perhaps, to march to peacekeeping duties at far-flung wilderness outposts; others to embark on ships bound home for the British Isles. Also bringing to life the Trenton of April 1763 will be townspeople-provisioners, laborers, and passersby, each with their own questions about what the future might hold. Visitors will also be fascinated by the Old Barracks' exhibit: "All is Threatened and Endangered: New Jersey and the French & Indian War."

On Saturday, the Old Barracks will host a roundtable discussion and individual talks exploring the 1763 treaty, the global war it ended, and what it all meant for the peoples of North America - colonial New Jerseyans among them - and the wider Atlantic world. Participants include scholars and curators expert in the period, among them Prof. David Bell of Princeton University and Martin West, past director of Pennsylvania's Fort Ligonier. A concert of music of the 1760s will be performed at the Barracks at 6:30 pm Saturday evening April 13th by the Practitioners of Musick.

Tours of the Barracks' period rooms, exhibits and re-enactment activities with soldiers and civilians will take place daily between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm. Admission: $8 adults, $6 for students, seniors, and children (children 5 and under are free), Old Barracks Association Members no admission.

Admission to the roundtable discussions and lectures in the morning and afternoon of Saturday the 13th is $15. $25 admission to the roundtable, lectures and a luncheon with the scholars. No admission for WARRIORS and Old Barracks Association members.

Admission to Saturday evening's concert will be $12, but those who've paid admission for the day's other events will be admitted for half price ($6). Reservations are required for roundtable, luncheon and concert. Call 609-396-1776 to reserve. www.barracks.org

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Sunday, April 14 - Titusville, Mercer County

Where Washington Once Led

This Sunday at the Titusville Presbyterian Church, located at 48 River Drive, there will be a short program and a meet and greet with author Peter Osbourne. Osbourne's newest book is titled, Where Washington Once Led: A History of New Jersey's Washington Crossing State Park. The program will be from 3:00 to 5:00 pm, with a welcome and short program at 3:30 pm. This a free event! Books will be available for purchase and the author and publisher will be available for interviews. Please RSVP to hvhist@aol.com or call 609-737-1547 (please leave voice mail). 

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Sunday, April 14 - Madison, Morris County

Commercial Wood Engraving in Antebellum America

At 2:00 pm on Sunday, Stephen P. Rice, PhD, Ramapo College, will present "Pictures for the People: Commercial Wood Engraving in  Antebellum America" at the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts. Come learn about the earliest printed illustrations, wood engravings, in this lecture, which will cover the practice of wood engraving, examples of early wood engravings and a discussion of why they were eventually displaced by lithographs. Advance registration recommended. Call 973-377-2982 x13. Regular admission. The Museum of Early Trades & Crafts is located at 9 Main Street, Madison, NJ. For information, please call 973-377-2982 x10 or visit www.metc.org.

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Sunday, April 14 - Morristown, Morris County
George Washington's Problems

Washington was described as unhappy and grave while he stayed at the Ford Mansion during the winter encampment of 1779 - 1780. Take a guided tour of the Ford Mansion and learn about the various problems – military, money, and family – that plagued Washington that winter. Tours at 1:00 pm, 2:00 pm and 3:00 pm at the Ford Mansion, within Morristown National Historical Park. Cost: $4.00 per adult. www.nps.gov/morr

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Sunday, April 14 - Farmingdale, Monmouth County

Baking Bread, the 1830s Way!

On Sunday between 1:00 and 4:00 pm, the Historic Village at Allaire will hold a demonstration of the Bee Hive Oven and techniques used for baking in our 19th century village. Explore the bakery of the 1830s Howell Works and the role it played in sustaining an entire community. Come join the workers as they prepare the dough, slide it into the oven, and smell the aroma of freshly baked bread.

In the 1830s, the communal bakery was essential to the village's workers and their families. Since the majority of homes did not have their own bake ovens, it was necessary to have the means of purchasing fresh bread. James P. Allaire, owner and founder of the Howell Works, now known as the Historic Village at Allaire, foresaw the need for a bakery able to produce enough bread for a community of, at times, four hundred people. He had the bakery constructed near the site of the Grist Mill and saw to it that all necessary ingredients were readily available at the General Store. This was an essential part of his plan for a self-contained community.

Visit this bustling village as they ready for the upcoming Grand Opening in May! The village children will play 19th-century games and visitors are welcome to join! The historic buildings will be open for tours from 12:00 noon to 4:00 pm.

The Historic Village at Allaire is located at 4263 Atlantic Avenue, Farmingdale, NJ. For more information, contact the Allaire Village office during business hours, Monday through Friday, 9:00 am - 5:00 pm, at 732-919-3500 or visit www.allairevillage.org. 

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Sunday, April 14 - Princeton, Ocean County

Mary Todd Lincoln Visits

On Sunday at 2:00 pm, the Ocean County Historical Society will commemorate the 148th anniversary of the assassination of President Lincoln by presenting the docu-drama, "Pass My Imperfections Lightly By," performed by Linda Turash. Dressed as Mary Todd Lincoln, Ms Turash will depict Mary's role in Lincoln's rise to power, the horror of his assassination, and her eventual confinement to an asylum.  Reservations are required. Call 732-341-1880. Donations accepted. The program will be held at 26 Hadley Avenue, Toms River, NJ. www.oceancountyhistory.org

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Sunday, April 14 - Ledgewood, Morris County

Museums at Drakesville Open House

On Sunday between 1:00 and 4:00 pm, the Roxbury Historical Trust will host an open house at the eighteenth century Silas Riggs Saltbox House, the historic King House and the King Store Museums. The sites are located at 213 Main Street in the Ledgewood Village section of Roxbury Township. Tours are free and historic interpreters will be on hand. For more information, call 973-927-7603. www.roxburynewjersey.com

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Sunday, April 14 - Bedminster Township, Somerset County

Open House

On Sunday, the Jacobus Vanderveer House will be open for tours. Come see the Vanderveer House and take a free self-guided tour. It's fun, and informative! Join them between 1:00 and 4:00 pm. The Vanderveer House is located in River Road Park, off Route 202/206 in Bedminster, NJ.  www.jvanderveerhouse.com

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Sunday, April 14 - Westfield, Union County

Quilting

Warmth, beauty, clues to the past - all contained within several layers of padding stitched together with fabric. The ancient handcraft of quilting will be featured in our program on Sunday from 2:00 - 4:00 pm. Handmade quilts will be on display, and our presenter will discuss what makes a quilt, such as its parts and the various patterns that have been developed throughout the years. Volunteers be available for tours, and members of the Cooking Committee will demonstrate authentic 18th century open-hearth cooking using colonial-era recipes and techniques. 

The museum’s gift shop will be open, offering a variety of colonial toys, crafts, books and educational materials. Admission: Adults/Children age 13 and older: $3.00; Children age 3 to 12: $2.00; Under age 3: free. The Miller-Cory House Museum is located at 614 Mountain Avenue in Westfield. For more information, call 908-232-1776 or visit www.millercoryhouse.org

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Sunday, April 14, 2013 - Cranbury, Middlesex County

Bunting Doll House on Display

The Bunting Doll House is on display at the Cranbury Museum on Sundays from 1:00 - 4:00 pm  through April 14, 2013. The house is a hand-made replica of an 1890's house and veterinarian's office in Burlington, NJ. When Lavada Bunting needed to relax after her long days as a private duty nurse in the 1950s, she turned to an all-consuming hobby, creating a dollhouse and the miniature furniture for it. The endeavor was nine years in the making. Thanks to Lavada Bunting's efforts, her descendants have a family heirloom: an elaborately furnished, nine-room, two-story replica of a Colonial house. The creator's nephew Bill Bunting, a Cranbury resident and Princeton lawyer, said, "It's an idealized version of the house in Burlington, NJ where my aunt grew up. No one has ever played with it.  It's not that kind of house." He has loaned the Cranbury Historical and Preservation Society this family treasure. The Cranbury Museum is located at 4 Park Place East, Cranbury. www.cranburyhistory.org

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Through April 28, 2013 - Paterson, Passaic County

New Exhibit at Lambert Castle

Lambert Castle, the Victorian-era mansion located on the Garrett Mountain Reservation on the border between Paterson and Clifton, will be home to an exciting new art exhibit now through April 28, 2013. The exhibit, entitled "Message in a Bottle: The Bottleworks of Dr. Etta Ehrlich," will feature Dr. Ehrlich's unique and thought-provoking take on society and culture, using carefully-arranged antique bottles and other found objects. The exhibit will be open until April 28 during regular museum hours: Wednesday through Sunday, 1:00 to 4:00 pm. Lambert Castle is located at 3 Valley Road, Paterson. For more information, call 973-247-0085 or visit www.lambertcastle.org.

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Some event listings courtesy of the League of Historical Societies of New Jersey