Wm. Paterson Interns Begin Jefferson Digest

Sarah explaining to Matt the proper way to handle documents.

Rachel loading the microfilm of Jefferson documents kept at MNHP.

Document #42 LWS #1290

Matthew Alexander and Rachel Tanzola are seniors studying History at William Paterson University and have been interning at MNHP since September. They are working with the Jefferson Documents donated by Lloyd W. Smith to create a digest. When finished the digest will contain summaries of each document, a short biography of each person mentioned and the letters they appear in.

“Although we were very excited to be able to handle documents written by Jefferson, finding a document with ciphers in it was beyond our expectations.” Rachel Tanzola

“Having the opportunity to handle the Jefferson documents reinforced a sense of patriotism. It was exhilarating to know that I have now handled a document that has been written by a founding member of our country.” Matthew Alexander

Matthew and Rachel will be with us until the end of May and are very excited to move on and learn different aspects of museum work. One project they will be working on will be the traveling museum which brings the museum into the schools. It involves making an inventory of reproduction artifacts (as one would real artifacts) and preparing them for classroom use. This will give them an example of educational outreach and examples of how museum artifacts arefiled/paperwork completed....an important part of museum work. Looking forward to the new year.


Blog entry by Rachel Tanzola and Matthew Alexander, William Paterson University

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow in Morristown's Back Yard?

The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, by Washington Irving, completes the Halloween season with its thrilling legends of Ichabod Crane, and his ultimate doom with the headless horsemen. But could this timeless supernatural tale have some local history behind it?

As much as Irving was a one of a kind story teller, he was also an avid historical researcher. While settling down in Terry town New York at his estate, Sunnyside, Irving wrote Life of George Washington. Morristown National Historical Park’s Lloyd W. Smith library located at the headquarters’ museum, currently houses the first edition of two of the three volume set, which was printed in 1855.

Allegedly, while Washington Irving was in New Jersey conducting research for his biography Life of George Washington, he came across a local legend dating back to the time of the American Revolution. This story evolved around a Hessian soldier in the “devil’s den” area of the Great Swamp in Morris and Somerset counties. Apparently killed by the Continental Army, a Hessian soldier’s head, nearly severed from the body, remained in the saddle as the horse ran into the swamp. The horseman has been reported over the years by residents who live in the area. Could this story be the original legend of sleepy hollow?

Like all legends, there are discrepancies with this local tale. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was printed between 1819 and 1820. Life of George Washington was first printed four years before Irving’s death. This means that Life of George Washington was printed thirty years after The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. But these dates do not necessarily mean that Life of George Washington took a short time to write. It is possible that before The Legend of Sleepy Hollow was published, Irving could have taken his time researching the man he was named after, George Washington. It is also possible that Washington Irving heard this story from the local town’s people while researching in New York years earlier, and did not hear it when he was in New Jersey.

When investigating this local legend for the park's newsletter, some sources that have published the article were not sure if the story was true. Shadowlands.com's audience sends in their stories to be published the shadowlands website, and so the people that run the site did not have enough manpower to research the story.

Other sources however, had not heard of this legend. The park historican herewas not at all familiar with the story. When discussing this story with a representitive from Historic Hudson Valley who runs Sunnyside, she did not find that the story was true, and believed that Irving most likely heard the tale when researching for his first book about the Hudson valley.

This last finding appears to be the true story...that its just a story.


Article by Krystal Poelstra, Museum Technician.

Volunteer Spotlight: Malcolm Dick

Malcolm Dick has been volunteering at Morristown N.H.P. for nearly 41 years. In the 1970’s, Malcolm could be found on many a weekend outside the Wick House working at his shaving bench making assorted wooden utensils for use in the house. During the bicentennial, Malcolm, as a member of Morgan’s Rifle Company, volunteered at both the Wick House and the Soldier Huts. Since retiring in 1990 as a nautical engineer and ship designer, Malcolm has been a valuable volunteer with the Cultural Resource Division, assisting with numerous projects dealing with the conservation and preservation of the museum collection.

Feature by Joni Rowe, Museum Specialist

Featured Manuscript: Historic CCC Photos

Collection Note:

The Morristown museum collection includes many historic photographs. Among them are images taken during early constructions and restorations projects, and include images of Park buildings, landscapes, trails, and Civilian Conservation Corps workers.

Morristown's Other Army

Have you ever wondered how Morristown National Historical Park became a park? Morristown NHP is a wonderful community resource that we use for relaxation, exercise and learning. Although Morristown NHP has been a fundamental part of the local landscape for several generations, this was not always the case.

The practice of holding large expanses of land in public trust for parks began in the 19th Century. Yellowstone National Park was the first National Park founded in 1872. In New Jersey it wasn’t until 1903 that the state established its first Historic Site at the Indian King Tavern in Camden County. Then in 1933, in the last days of Herbert Hoover’s presidency, he signed into law creating Morristown NHP. Soon after, Franklin D. Roosevelt took office and gave his ‘Three Essentials for Unemployment Relief’ On March 21, 1933, where he proposed the formation of the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC). This program became the most popular program of FDR’s New Deal agenda.

Here you see the CCC boys being driven from Morristown to Jockey Hollow for their work building man of the things we still enjoy today like the trails, tour road and the Wick House and Farm.

One of the nicknames given to the CCC is 'Roosevelt's Tree Army.' Here enrollees plant one of many treee behind the Ford Mansion. During the 9 years of the CCC, they planted roughly 3 billion trees throughout the country.

This is a picture of the first CCC camp in Jockey Hollow. This was located right in front of where the replica soldier huts sits now.

The CCC enrollees are going through many of the pottery pieces found during the archaeology digs around the Wick House and Ford Mansion and trying to put them back together.

Do you see any heavy machinery in this photo? The CCC were responsible for building the park road. They used human muscle for as many jobs as possible. The 'boys' in the picture helped built the tour road for only $1 a day. Would you help build a road for $1 a day?

The Wick House was transformed to its present state by the CCC. The men in the foreground are not enrollees in the CCC, but are probably Local Experienced Men (LEMs). These men came from the local community and taught the enrollees various skills, in this case woodworking.



President Roosevelt was interested in preserving the nation’s natural and cultural treasures and focused the CCC on conservation. The CCC built roads, bridges and hiking trails throughout the country. They participated in soil erosion control, planted acres of trees and established forest management practices. In Jockey Hollow the men built many of the trails, did extensive archeology around the Soldiers Huts, Wick Farm and Guerin House. They also constructed the tour road, Wick House garden and replanted the apple orchard at the Wick House.

While completing all this they observed an eight hour work day and a five day work week. This left plenty of time to participate in recreational and educational activities offered in the camp. Enrollees earned $30 a month. They were allowed to keep only $5 while the remaining $25 was sent home to support their parents and siblings. While in the camp the enrollees also received room, board and medical care.

The towns and villages where the camps were located received just as many benefits as the enrollees did. While the camps were in session, local tradesmen were hired as “Local Experienced Men’ or ‘LEMs’ for short. These men trained the CCC enrollees in various skills needed to complete the jobs assigned to the camp. Also many of the supplies and food needed in the camp was purchased from local merchants. The ‘boys’ were taken into town most weekends and were able to spend some of their hard earned money at local stores such as ice parlors, movie theaters and restaurants.

The CCC worked in all the states and territories of the U.S. for 9 years from 1933 to 1942. During this time about 3 million boys signed up for the CCC and their accomplishments were amazing. Throughout the life of the program the CCC planted upwards of 3 billion trees, constructed approximately 125,000 miles of road, built more than 3,000 fire lookout towers and spent 8 million man hours fighting forest fires.

Next time you are in a park, especially Jockey Hollow, take a minute to appreciate the hard work that had to be done for us to enjoy Jockey Hollow and other public lands the way we do today. If you would like to learn more about the CCC at Morristown NHP join one of the many CCC related Ranger led activities.

Blog entry by Andy Danneker, Park Ranger, Morristown NHP

Featured Manuscript: Nathaniel Greene Letter

“O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you!”

General Greene’s Letter to Moore Furman

A letter written in Morristown over 230 years ago has a permanent home just a mile from where it was originally written.

What makes this document so important is that it was written during the 1779-1780 winter encampment by General Nathaniel Greene, the Quarter Master General of the Continental Army. As Quarter Master General, Greene was responsible for everything that dealt with the daily existence of the army such as food, clothing, shelter, transportation and choosing campsites for the army. He was writing to Moore Furman, the quartermaster responsible for collecting supplies in New Jersey.

side 1

Much of the three page letter is filled with the mundane business of the Quartermaster department dealing with issues of transporting supplies, paying bills, and discussing the reorganization of New Jersey’s supply system. But one paragraph offers us a glimpse into life during the winter encampment of 1779-1780.


 

“Our Army is without Meat or Bread; and have been for two or three days past. Poor Fellows! They exhibit a picture truly distressing. More than half naked, and above two thirds starved. A Country, once overflowing with plenty, are now suffering an Army employed for the defense of everything that is dear and valuable, to perish for want of food. A people too, whose political existance depends upon this Army, and the future enjoyment of what they now possess. O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you! Legislatures are guarding against little trespasses, while they suffer the great Barriers of political security to be thrown down, and the Country overrun.” (see page 1)

side 2

side 3

This was written during the worst part of the encampment of 1779-1780. When the army arrived at Morristown there was already a foot of snow on the ground. General Greene had taken quarters at Arnold’s Tavern on Morristown Green, while General Washington stayed at the Ford Mansion. But the army was five miles south of Morristown in Jockey Hollow. It took the soldiers at least two weeks to build their log cabins. Until then, they slept out in the open or in tents during what turned out to be the worst winter in the recorded history of the United States. When General Greene wrote this letter, at Arnold’s Tavern, it was the third day of a four day blizzard. The snow that had been one foot deep was now four feet deep.

The deep snow prevented supplies from reaching the camp. One soldier recalled that he did not get anything to eat for four days and in desperation he ate bark off of a stick. He also said that some soldiers ate old shoes and officers killed and ate a pet dog. What really frustrated Greene wasn’t the weather; it was the lack of support from the civilian population. He described them as “a land overflowing with plenty” while the army was starving. What Greene didn’t know when he wrote this, was that four days later General Washington would requisition food from every county in New Jersey, promising payment but threatening confiscation if the food was not forthcoming. By the end of January and through early February soldiers letters and diaries comment on how they had plenty of food. But it wouldn’t last long. Eventually, New Jersey’s contribution ran out and food had to be obtained from other states. By spring two Connecticut regiments would mutiny over a lack of food. It was a problem that would frustrate Generals Greene and Washington for the entire war.




Blog entry by Eric Olsen, Park Ranger/Historian, Morristown National Historical Park.

Check This Out!: Deed Interpretation

Trying to decipher an old family deed? Interested in legal documents? Teaching with primary sources?

The University of Nottingham has excellent manuscript tutorials available online for your research needs.

Find Resources On:
Using Archives/Caring For Collections/Dating Documents/Weights and Measures/Account Records/Deeds/Deeds in Depth/Manorial Records/Maps and Plans/Medieval Books/Medieval Documents

Conveyance, North Muskham, 1853 (Ne D 2745)
Image taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Conveyance, North Muskham, 1853 (Ne D 2745)
Image taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Date

The date of execution of the deed is always listed at the beginning. This may be in the modern form we would recognise today (i.e. 29 June 1665), or it may be in the form of a 'regnal' date, indicating the year of the reign of a particular monarch (i.e. 29 June 17 Charles II). In addition, the actual day and month may sometimes be indicated by reference to a particular event or saint's day (i.e. the feast of St Peter and St Paul, 17 Charles II). A separate Research Guidance module is available to assist with dating documents.

Parties

These are simply the names of the individuals or organisations involved in the deed. They are listed in order, in the form 'First Party, Second Party, Third Party' and so on, and so are easily identifiable

Recitals

These provide a summary of the activity which has led up to the present deed, so, for example, they may recite details of a person's will, or of a previous conveyance or of a mortgage and so on. They will normally by introduced by the word 'whereas' and can be several in number. Normally the recitals are not essential to interpreting the current deed, and so do not always need to be looked at in detail

Operative Part(s) or 'Testatum'

This states the purpose of the deed, for example the effecting of a conveyance or a lease from one person to another. It can be identified by the phrase '(Now this indenture) witnesseth' or 'further witnesseth' and will normally include a 'consideration' (e.g. amount of purchase money, amount of rent) or other motive for the transaction (e.g. 'natural love and affection' shown by one relative to another)

Parcels

These provide a description (often detailed) of the property which is subject of the deed and can usually be identified by the words 'all that'

Habendum

This word comes from the Latin phrase 'Habendum et Tenendum', that is 'to have and to hold' and this section defines the terms of the estate. Therefore, freehold property may be conveyed forever, whereas leasehold property may be conveyed for a term of years

Covenants, Conditions and Provisos

These record details of agreements made between the parties which affect the property and transaction. For example, one party may promise to produce the deeds to the property as proof of title, may promise not to use land for a particular purpose, may promise not to sub-let a property and so on

Witnesses

Each deed will normally contain a list (and often signatures) of people who are acting as a witness to the transaction. Normally these will be the parties to the deed itself, but sometimes, particularly with earlier deeds, independent witnesses are listed. Each witness will normally make a seal

Endorsements

Literally things endorsed (or written) on the reverse of a deed. This could be a subsequent sale or agreement, a record of the receipt of purchase money, a record of the delivery of possession and so on

*Example borrowed from University of Nottingham (via) Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Check This Out: Deed Interpretation

Trying to decipher an old family deed? Interested in legal documents? Teaching with primary sources?

The University of Nottingham has an excellent manuscript tutorials available online.

Find Resources on:
Using Archives/Caring For Collections/Dating Documents/Weights and Measures/Account Records/Deeds/Deeds in Depth/Manorial Records/Maps and Plans/Medieval Books/Medieval Documents

Conveyance, North Muskham, 1853 (Ne D 2745)

Image taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Conveyance, North Muskham, 1853 (Ne D 2745)
Image taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Date

The date of execution of the deed is always listed at the beginning. This may be in the modern form we would recognise today (i.e. 29 June 1665), or it may be in the form of a 'regnal' date, indicating the year of the reign of a particular monarch (i.e. 29 June 17 Charles II). In addition, the actual day and month may sometimes be indicated by reference to a particular event or saint's day (i.e. the feast of St Peter and St Paul, 17 Charles II). A separate Research Guidance module is available to assist with dating documents.

Parties

These are simply the names of the individuals or organisations involved in the deed. They are listed in order, in the form 'First Party, Second Party, Third Party' and so on, and so are easily identifiable

Recitals

These provide a summary of the activity which has led up to the present deed, so, for example, they may recite details of a person's will, or of a previous conveyance or of a mortgage and so on. They will normally by introduced by the word 'whereas' and can be several in number. Normally the recitals are not essential to interpreting the current deed, and so do not always need to be looked at in detail

Operative Part(s) or 'Testatum'

This states the purpose of the deed, for example the effecting of a conveyance or a lease from one person to another. It can be identified by the phrase '(Now this indenture) witnesseth' or 'further witnesseth' and will normally include a 'consideration' (e.g. amount of purchase money, amount of rent) or other motive for the transaction (e.g. 'natural love and affection' shown by one relative to another)

Parcels

These provide a description (often detailed) of the property which is subject of the deed and can usually be identified by the words 'all that'

Habendum

This word comes from the Latin phrase 'Habendum et Tenendum', that is 'to have and to hold' and this section defines the terms of the estate. Therefore, freehold property may be conveyed forever, whereas leasehold property may be conveyed for a term of years

Covenants, Conditions and Provisos

These record details of agreements made between the parties which affect the property and transaction. For example, one party may promise to produce the deeds to the property as proof of title, may promise not to use land for a particular purpose, may promise not to sub-let a property and so on

Witnesses

Each deed will normally contain a list (and often signatures) of people who are acting as a witness to the transaction. Normally these will be the parties to the deed itself, but sometimes, particularly with earlier deeds, independent witnesses are listed. Each witness will normally make a seal

Endorsements

taken from University of Nottingham (via)

Text taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Literally things endorsed (or written) on the reverse of a deed. This could be a subsequent sale or agreement, a record of the receipt of purchase money, a record of the delivery of possession and so on

Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Check This Out: Deed Interpretation

Trying to decipher an old family deed? Interested in legal documents? Teaching with primary sources?

The University of Nottingham has an excellent manuscript tutorials available online.

Find Resources on:
Using Archives/Caring For Collections/Dating Documents/Weights and Measures/Account Records/Deeds/Deeds in Depth/Manorial Records/Maps and Plans/Medieval Books/Medieval Documents

Conveyance, North Muskham, 1853 (Ne D 2745)

Image taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Conveyance, North Muskham, 1853 (Ne D 2745)
Image taken from University of Nottingham (via)
Manuscripts and Special Collections Guidance

Jude Pfister Discusses Byron Forgery on WCBS

Morristown National Historic Park To Keep Bogus Bryon Letter

MORRISTOWN, NJ (WCBS 880) - When the curator of the Morristown National Historic Park first found out in May that their letter supposedly written by poet Lord Byron was a fake, panic set in.

WCBS 880′s Levon Putney In New Jersey

August 2, 2011 10:18 AM

Click HERE to listen. View the forgery HERE.

“Oh my goodness, you know. What do we do now?” said Jude Pfister.

After all, the museum had the letter for over fifty years.

But then, Pfister thought, “This might not be a bad thing, taking the approach of turning lemons into lemonade.”

The museum may now put together an exhibit on forged documents. Pfister says there were lots of fakes in Byron’s time and now he gets to talk about them.

“We don’t have the real thing, but in and of itself, there’s just as much of a story,” he says.

Pfister says it’ll be an educational tool for visitors and students.

The letter is believed to have been written 50 years after Byron’s death in 1824. The author of the letter remains unknown.

The document’s authenticity came into question after Drew University planned to use the letter in a Byron exhibit. It was passed along to an expert at the New York Public Library who discovered problems with the salutation, signature and content.

*Permission to republish was kindly granted by WCBS 880. Interviewer Levon Putney.

Lord Byron (credit: UK Government Art Collection via Wikipedia)

Lloyd W. Smith Native American Collection

My name is Carleigh Moore and I am a rising senior anthropology student at the University of Notre Dame. This summer I am working with the Lloyd W. Smith Native American artifact collection.

At the onset of my internship, roughly four weeks ago, I began cataloguing the Native American collection in order to make it more accessible to the museum staff, researchers, and Native American tribes who may be interested in the collection.

The collection of over 20,000 artifacts is stored in 60 boxes. Within each large box there are several bags of artifacts, grouped by type. The majority of the collection is comprised of various types of stone tools and projectile points.

To complete the cataloguing process, I am methodically going through each bag to record information about every artifact in the collection. Each bag of artifacts receives a catalogue number according to its contents. Next, I photograph the contents of the bag. Finally, I record descriptions of the contents in an excel spreadsheet.

The best part of my job is when I come across something that I have never seen before. In one box, I found several bags of small round stones. I was unaware of their function until I researched and concluded they were most likely used as part of a bola throwing weapon. A bola consists of several connected ropes with weights on the end. Hunters throw the bola and the weapon’s ropes become tangled in the animal’s legs, often making it impossible for the animal to continue running.

While assigning these small stones new catalogue numbers I was in awe of the hunters’ ingenuity. I would have never thought to use these small stones to create such an effective weapon!


Blog entry by Carleigh Moore, University of Notre Dame.

Featured Manuscript: Lydia Maria Child

Lydia Maria Child (1802-1880) was an American author whose earliest works centered on hearth and home. She founded the children’s periodical Juvenile Miscellany when she was twenty-four years old. By 1831, Child had published The Mother’s Book and The Girl’s Own Book, “both of which,” according to her obituary in The New York Times, “hold places in nearly every New-England family library.”

In that same year, 1831, Child met William Lloyd Garrison. Her subsequent writings forcefully promoted anti-slavery issues. Within a decade she moved to New York to edit the weekly newspaper National Anti-Slavery Standard, a position she held until 1843.

This letter from the Lloyd W. Smith Archives was addressed to a Mr. Frederic Oxnard, and sent from New York in the fall of 1846. It appears that Oxnard had written for Child’s permission to include her in his pending project. Child replied,

“I cheerfully comply with your request, though with a consciousness that you may be often asked why that name was inserted among a gallery of “distinguished” ones; and, like the old Roman, ‘I would prefer that posterity should inquire why no statues were erected for me, rather than ask why they were.’”

Look closely at the bottom right corner of the manuscript. Affixed to the document is circular impression in green wax. The image appears to represent the palm of a right hand. Seals were used in the nineteenth century for a variety of purposes, often to secure envelopes. This particular seal, however, was not meant to be broken, and remains intact after more than one hundred and fifty years.

Featured Manuscript:

Child to Oxnard (November 3, 1846). LWS 2471. Lloyd W. Smith Archival Collection, Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, New Jersey.

Sources:

“Child, Lydia Maria.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, 2011. Web. 11 July 2011. .

“Obituary: Lydia Maria Child.” The New York Times, October 21, 1880.

“sigillography.” Encyclopædia Britannica. Encyclopædia Britannica Online School Edition. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 2011. Web. 15 July 2011. http://school.eb.com/eb/article-58828.

Blog entry by Anne Ricculli, Drew University.

Archival Ambassadors: Class of 2011

The High School Ambassadors have had an exciting week full of document-based activities, Park history, reflective blogging, historical thinking techniques, tours, and scholarly discussion! On Wednesday, the Ambassadors explored Jockey Hollow, where the group learned about hut construction, home life during the Revolutionary period, and the myths surrounding Tempe Wick. This week has been dedicated to primary document investigation, making careful observations, and practicing diligent and responsible scholarship.

We have all made some great new friends along the way!

This fresh batch of Park Stewards is excited to share what they have learned all week with family and friends! See you at Community Day, July 16, 10:00 am!

To follow the Archival Ambassadors blog reflections and to view their fantastic photo galleries, click HERE!

Morristown Interns Interviewed by the Star Ledger

Interns and recent William Paterson graduates, Bruce Spadaccini Jr. and Peter Blasevick, were recently interviewed about their research project at Morristown NHP.

Read the Star Ledger article below.

By Dan Goldberg/The Star-Ledger

Published: Sunday, July 03, 2011, 10:00 AM

WAYNE- Imagine trying to put together a jigsaw puzzle where the needed pieces were spread out in several different boxes. That was kind of like the task that confronted Bruce Spadaccini Jr. and Peter Blasevick. The two William Paterson University students, as part of a senior project, set out to discover why 90 men, elected to the Continental Congress more than 200 years ago, refused to serve.

It was like a mystery with few obvious clues and no straight answers. Spadaccini, a 21-year-old working toward a career in academia, and Blasevick, a 43-year-old looking to begin a career as a digital archivist, spent the spring semester researching at the Morristown National Historical Park. They poured over letters and personal documents from these men, some of which had not been looked at in more than a half century, said Jude Pfister, the historical park’s chief of cultural resources.

Most of the letters are mundane: chit chat about weddings, inquiries into the health of friends, recepits, but occasionally the writings demonstrate a prescient understanding of the historical tide sweeping over the nation.

"Now is the time for heroes," writes Connecticut’s James Hillhouse to Nathan Hale in March, 1774. "Now is the time for men to immortalize their names in the deliverance of their Country and grace the annals of America with their glorious deeds."

Elias Dayton, who was born in what is now Elizabeth, served as a colonel during the Revolution and was elected to congress in 1778, begged the Rev. James Caldwell to help clothe his "poor naked soldiers," in September 1776.

The bulk of the museum’s collection, Pfister said, came in 1933 from the Washington Association. Much of the archives came in 1957 from Lloyd W. Smith, a banker and collector, who helped preserve Jockey Hollow.

Unfortunately for the pair, none of the letters in the collection directly mention the congress or reasons for not attending. Instead, they had to build a context around letters.

"The reasons we found were anything from health reasons to people who were too busy to people who didn’t think it was important to do," said Blasevick, who lives in Rockaway Township.

EnlargeJerry McCrea/The Star-LedgerPeter Blasevick (left) of Green Pond; and Bruce Spadaccini (right) of Ringwood seen working on their research at the Morristown National Historic Park in Morristown. (Jerry McCrea/The Star-Ledger).William Patterson University students investigate why men elected to serve in Continental Congress chose not to gallery (4 photos)

• 
• 
• 

William Paterson, the namesake of the college where the two men attended, was a successful lawyer and did not want to be pulled away from his responsibilities in New Jersey, said Spadaccini, who lives in Ringwood. Paterson would later serve on the U.S. Supreme Court.

"At the time he had a huge practice, he declined to serve because he wanted to stay in New Jersey and help New Jersey," Spadaccini said.

George Mason, who took George Washington’s vacated seat in the Virginia legislature, was elected to the second Continental Congress in 1777 but declined to serve because of his responsibilities in Virginia, they deduced.

The undertaking, Blasevick and Spadaccini said, was a fascinating chance to probe into the nation’s first moments, and the men who brought it to life.

After a semester’s worth of work, the pair were not able to solve every mystery. Some of the delegates had too little information to make any kind of determination, they said, but just sorting through the reams of material provides an invaluable service to the library.

"When researchers come here, they will now have some idea of what is in this collection," Pfister said.

And the lesson may be that there are not always easy answers.

"History isn’t as simple as we like to make it," said Robert Wolk, the professor who oversaw the project. "That’s the bottom line."

*Permission to republish was kindly granted by the Star Ledger. Article by Dan Goldberg/Star Ledger. Photos by Jerry McCrea/Star Ledger. Article found HERE.

Read More about this project HERE.

Report 3: Reflecting on the Last Three Weeks

Now that we are wrapping up our third week of the program (and our final week before the students join us), we wanted to take some time to reflect on what we have done thus far and why we have decided to do what we are doing with the students once they are here. Our first week here went by pretty quickly, full of tours that allowed us to learn the background information surrounding the Morristown National Historical Park sites, discussing and brainstorming to figure out topics and themes for both the student week and the Traveling Archives Box, and then looking through the Finding Aid and researching documents that we each found interesting. Once we had had a chance to explore the wide range of sources in the Lloyd W. Smith collection, we brought together our plethora of documents and arranged them under various categories in order to prepare ourselves for the next step: sorting through and selecting what documents we really wanted to use. The narrowing down process was difficult, since there are so many exciting and exhilarating documents in the collection, but we ultimately got down to a manageable sized group (have 3-6 documents per category). Using this group of documents, we were able to flesh out both the plan for the week and the lesson plans for the Box, developing various activities, lectures, and presentations to get the students thinking about both the documents and artifacts and the historical process.

While putting everything together, we realized that our actions and the process we were following would be helpful to share with the students for their future historical work. This became our philosophy behind the week with the students and the lesson plans. We decided we want to teach them not only how to think historically, but also how to be Mini-Historians. We will have each day reflect a particular step in what we see as the process for doing historical work: the first day will be about discovering interests and choosing topics, the second day will be about brainstorming different types of documents and artifacts that can be used while researching and then gathering these sources together, the third day will be about analyzing and interpreting those sources and understanding how a physical space can also be used for historical research, and the fourth and fifth days will be about presenting the work they have done and discussing how places, items, and parks are preserved and what career paths historians can follow. While doing all this, they will also be learning about the important role Morristown and other National Historical Parks play in the community and the extensive collection that is housed at this site.

We also composed a couple of worksheets pertaining to the anatomy of a history paper and tips we wish we had learned in high school about what to do and what not to do when writing a paper. Coupled with the week's activities and lesson plans, we feel these worksheets will be great tools that the students can continue to use throughout their high school and college careers.

We look forward to meeting all the students on Monday and cannot wait to see what their different personalities and interests add to the program! The week with them should be full of many exciting moments of discovery, in regards to not only the documents, artifacts, and sites, but also the historical process and skills associated with it. We are very eager to share everything we've found and learned with them!