Successful Birthday Celebration

George and Martha Washington stand in the front hallway of the Ford Mansion,
where the Washington’s stayed over 235 years ago. NPS photo.

Morristown National Historical Park celebrated George Washington’s birthday by inviting the Continental Army and George and Martha Washington back to Morristown over President’s Day weekend.

On Saturday, February 21st, and Sunday, February 22nd, reenactors from the 2nd New Jersey Regiment portrayed Continental soldiers and officers at the Wick House, which became a military headquarters during the winter of 1779-1780. Visitors learned what it was like during the “Hard Winter” as well as the roles that officers, soldiers, and civilians played during the Jockey Hollow Encampment.

Also on Sunday, America’s founding couple, George and Martha Washington, returned to Morristown, 235 years after they spent the hard winter of 1779-1780 at the Theodosia Ford Mansion. This free program, which was given in cooperation with the Jacobus Vanderveer House & Museum in Bedminster, New Jersey, was funded by a grant from the Anne L. and George H. Clapp Charitable and Educational Trust.

Re-enactors portraying George and Martha Washington reminisced about that challenging time in American history and provided a first-hand account of the anxieties associated with the discomforts of that winter, as well as their much larger, shared task of keeping the spirits of the American ideal from falling victim to a winter which nearly stopped the Army in its tracks.

This entry by Vanessa Smiley, Chief of Interpretation.

George and Martha Washington Return to Morristown

Joint Program with the Jacobus Vanderveer House & Museum
3 pm, Sunday, February 22, 2015

Morristown, NJ – America’s founding couple, George and Martha Washington, will return to Morristown, New Jersey, 235 years after they spent the hard winter of 1779-1780 at the Theodosia Ford Mansion.

Re-enactors portraying George and Martha Washington will reminisce about that challenging time in American history during a presentation Sunday, February 22nd from 3:00 - 4:00 p.m. at Morristown National Historical Park’s Washington’s Headquarters Museum, 30 Washington Place, Morristown, New Jersey. The free program, hosted by Morristown National Historical Park in cooperation with the Jacobus Vanderveer House & Museum in Bedminster, is funded by a grant from the Anne L. and George H. Clapp Charitable and Educational Trust.

“It is widely acknowledged that George Washington slept just about everywhere during the Revolution. Most people don’t realize, however, that his wife, Martha, also spent many a night away from Mount Vernon with her husband at winter encampments,” observed Jude Pfister, D. Litt., Chief of Cultural Resources, Morristown National Historical Park. “That was, indeed, the case at the Morristown 1779-1780 encampment.”

George and Martha Washington will give attendees a first-hand account of the anxieties associated with the discomforts of that winter, as well as their much larger, shared task of keeping the spirits of the American ideal from falling victim to a winter which nearly stopped the Army in its tracks.

The program is free of charge, but registration is suggested.  Register online at: www.jvanderveerhouse.org.

Featured Artifact: Secret Compartments

Hollywood spins enticing tales of family secrets and hidden treasures, but what if your heirlooms really do have a story to tell? Several pieces in our eighteenth-century furniture collection are not what they seem.  In fact, these desks and cabinets cleverly disguise hidden compartments. Today we will take a look at three different examples, demonstrating various degrees of craftsmanship.

example 1

Pictured here is the upper half of a flat-top highboy. It appears to house six drawers, but only the bottom two drawers function. The remaining four are false fronts which decorate an upper storage "trunk."

The hinged molding opens to reveal a large storage area. The upper portion featured here would rest atop a lower cabinet of similar height, so accessing the upper compartment would likely require a stool of some sort.

example 2

As the previous example, pictured here is the upper half of a flat-top highboy. This Queen-Anne style piece is far more ornate, featuring brass pulls and locks on each drawer.  The hidden compartment is also more clever than the first.

A entire drawer is concealed behind the cornice molding. This would have made an ideal hiding place for important documents.

example 3

This final piece might be compared to an antique safe deposit box. Not only does this drop-front desk feature a locking front panel, it includes two layers of secure compartments.

Even decorative elements slide out to reveal hiding spots.

The most intriguing feature, however, is the "secret passageway" that opens to a set of interior drawers. Like an intricate puzzle, the entire center structure may be carefully lifted out to reveal additional storage compartments. The skilled craftsman that assembled this piece was careful to create the illusion that the center drawers were permanently fixed and were as deep as those that flanked either side--preventing the untrained eye from the suspicion that the center unit might be acting as a false front.

Unfortunately our investigation did not reveal any treasures, but perhaps we still have pieces in our collection that are keeping secrets!



This blog post by Sarah Minegar.