THE BRICK ACADEMY. Inside. Holiday House Tour. Inside... Volunteers. Tickets. Sunday, December 15

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1 Inside THE BRICK ACADEMY The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills September 2013 Holiday House Tour Sunday, December 15 Inside... - Museum News - Historic Preservation Grants - Amelia Earhart Speaker Program - Lord Stirling Festival - Education Calendar - Village Blacksmith - THSSH Anniversary - Membership Dues The area s most celebrated house tour returns this holiday season with six Somerset Hills residences showcasing historic preservation, interior design and holiday décor! Among those featured are a notable 1760 farmhouse associated with the Revolutionary War spy who was captured at the Parker Tavern (former Bernardsville Library); an early Colonial Revival circa 1902 and a contributing property of the Olcott Avenue Historic District; and a stately home on the Bernardsville Mountain situated on a five-acre property that once was part of the estate of pharmaceutical magnate Charles Pfizer, Junior. The Brick Academy, an 1809 historic landmark, will once again serve as the hospitality center. Volunteers Our fundraiser attracts up to 600 visitors and its success requires many volunteers. You are invited to take part in the Society s signature event, enjoy the company of friends in a festive setting, and receive a free ticket! Trustees will be contacting members with volunteer opportunities in the upcoming weeks. Your time and services are sincerely appreciated! Tickets If you are unable to volunteer, we hope you will attend this yuletide event. House tour hours are from 12 Noon to 5 PM. Tickets cost $30 each and will be available by mail after November 12. Please send a selfaddressed, legal size stamped envelope with your check to: THSSH, P.O. Box 136, Basking Ridge, NJ Proceeds will benefit our museum exhibits, public lectures, educational programs, and operating expenses of the Brick Academy. We look forward to seeing you on the Holiday House Tour!

2 INSIDE THE BRICK ACADEMY PAGE 2 Brick Academy Museum Open House Sunday afternoons (2 to 4 PM) at the Brick Academy resume on September 8. Visitors are welcome to enjoy the museum s local artifact exhibits and the 1890s schoolroom. Somerset County 325th Anniversary Exhibit The Museum Committee recently provided posters of Historical Politicians for an Exhibit to honor the 325th Anniversary of Somerset County. The exhibit arranged by the Somerset County Planning Board had been on display in the halls of the Administration Building this past May. This coordinated effort involved several custodians of local history and local historical associations, including The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills. The various items on display were intended to provide a peephole on the past, bringing perspective on how much local landscape and lifestyle had altered across the 325 years. Among the artifacts loaned to the County by the Museum Committee were portraits of Theodore Frelinghuysen, who served as a U.S. Senator, N.J. Attorney General and Mayor of Newark, as well as fellow statesman, Samuel Lewis Southard. Both historically important politicians from the Somerset Hills had been students at the Brick Academy during the late 1700s when it was known as the Basking Ridge Classical School. Acquisition A signed original letter from William Alexander (aka Lord Stirling) dated 1775 was donated to THSSH by Richard Blauvelt. We feel very fortunate this important document has been acquired and plan to have it on display soon in the museum. Hopefully, you will find time to visit the museum to see this wonderful letter along with the other remarkable artifacts currently on display from the Lord Stirling manor dig. Historic Preservation Grants The Somerset Hills area received two historic preservation grant awards from the Somerset County Cultural & Heritage Commission s 2013 HP award program this year. Congratulations go to The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills for an award of $37,600, and also to the Historic Preservation Advisory Committee of Bernardsville which will receive $249,806. The THSSH award will be used to replace the existing wood shake roof at the Brick Academy, headquarters for THSSH. The existing roof was originally installed around 1978, and shows its age. The Historical Society is immensely grateful to the Somerset County C&H Commission and the County Freeholders for their continued support of the renovations and repairs we have undertaken over the years, says Marcella Miccolis, Chair of the Historical Society. We are also grateful to Dan Lincoln and Paula Axt for all their hard work preparing the application and to the Bernards Township Committee for their support of the project. The Bernardsville HPAC award will be used for the Dunster Squibb House, an historic property owned by the Borough of Bernardsville located on Mine Brook Road near Borough Hall. The funds will be used for additional shoring, roof replacements, chimney reconstruction, window repairs, gutter replacements, and other repairs needed to protect the house from further deterioration. Dan Lincoln, HPAC Chair, also prepared this application with help from Charlotte Foster, another HPAC member. We are also extremely grateful to the Somerset County Freeholders, the Cultural & Heritage Commission and the Borough Council of Bernardsville for their continued support of this important historic project, said Dan Lincoln. It takes a lot of patience and diligence for these types of projects to make progress. Somerset County really shows faith in our town and its capabilities when they support this project. It s also wonderful especially since they support multiple projects in our area. They are all important. Somerset County is also working with Bernardsville on the Mount Airy Road Repair Project and the Pill Hill Cell Tower. The tower will be used for local EMT, fire and police calls. The grant awards will be presented at 7:00 PM at the Somerset County Administration Building Community Room in Somerville on September 10. The public is invited to attend, and help celebrate Historic Preservation in Somerset County and the Somerset Hills.

3 INSIDE THE BRICK ACADEMY PAGE 3 Determined Spirit: The Story of Amelia Earhart September 19 at 7:30 PM Professional actress Monica Hoffman performs as Amelia Earhart in a one woman show that reveals the life and legacy of the world s most celebrated female aviator. During the course of the 40 minute performance, Amelia recalls the events of her life from childhood through her final flight. Audiences are allowed a unique and fascinating glimpse into history, and the unforgettable experience of meeting a true American icon. The show is unique in that it aims to provide the sense of what it might feel like to meet the real Amelia; intelligent, warm and engaging. Monica Hoffman is a professional actress and historian. She studied acting privately as well as at the prestigious Walnut Street Theater in Philadelphia and has performed in local and regional theaters. The Brick Academy 15 West Oak Street, Basking Ridge NJ Free Admission Lord Stirling 1770s Festival Sunday, October 6 Colonial history lives at the annual 1770s Festival to be held on Sunday, October 6 from 10:30 AM to 4:30 PM at Lord Stirling Park in Basking Ridge. Nearly fifty colonial folks, attired in period dress, demonstrate their trades and crafts, and a Revolutionary War military detachment conducts maneuvers on the site of the former manor house. The Historical Society will have a prominent presence with a booth displaying educational material, local artifacts and history-related publications. The Somerset Hills County Park Commission s event promotes historical and environmental education by highlighting Lord Stirling; demonstrating NJ colonial heritage; and recreating a typical 1770s Sunday afternoon. Education Committee Calendar The Education Committee is planning a series of family-oriented activities for the fall season. For information and registration, please brick1809@gmail.com Historic Walking Tour Ghostly Tales Walking Tour Craft Sunday: Lenape Tee Shirt Sunday, September 22 at 2 PM Sunday, October 20 at 7 PM Sunday, November 17 at 2 PM While visiting the Brick Academy, be sure to check out the Education Committee Brochure listing the various School Programs offered by our volunteers and the Museum of Early Trades and Crafts. We are pleased to display our School Teacher mannequin, in full period costume and wig, in the 1890s Schoolroom. We wish to gratefully express our appreciation to Trilogy Repertory Company for the loan of the costume which will change twice yearly.

4 INSIDE THE BRICK ACADEMY PAGE 4 REMEMBERING THE LAST VILLAGE BLACKSMITH By June O. Kennedy Years ago, a blacksmith was a smith, or a person who worked with metal of a black color. Smith usually meant someone who shaped metals by hammering; a person who made horseshoes and shoed horses. David Y. Moore was born in Plainfield, New Jersey on October 24, 1872 and lived his first 12 years there. The family relocated to South Stirling and he matured on his father s 35-acre farm. Moore then came to Basking Ridge in 1892 when he was apprenticed to William H. Bormann s blacksmith shop on Henry Street. Three years later, Mr. Moore took a job as a blacksmith in Morristown, where he would shoe as many as 54 horses in a 10 hour day! He was considered a blacksmith and a wheelwright. Moore s blacksmith shop was located at the northwest corner of North Finley Avenue and Dayton Street in Basking Ridge and was in operation until the mid-1950s. The building was a two-story weathered barn that had once housed the blacksmith s forge. Nothing remains of the building (now site of a residence), but a recently purchased business sign D.Y. MOORE, Basking Ridge N.J. Tel. Ber.38M, at an area antique store by a local family, who now share the memories of long ago. David Moore and Hannie Sanders Moore were married in 1898 and celebrated their 56th wedding anniversary in The Moore family was active in the Bishop Janes Methodist Church where they were official members, with Mr. Moore also a trustee, a member of the Men s Quartet and Epsworth League. Mr. Moore was a charter member and a chief of the Basking Ridge Fire Company, the Bernards Fire Relief Association, Bernards Exempt Firemen s Association and Lodge #77, Jr. Order United American Mechanics. David Y. Moore died January 22, Survivors were his wife, a son, four grandchildren and a sister. He was a well-respected member of the community and the last village blacksmith. History Trivia: Who, What, Why, Where & When? Why do American drivers observe Keep to the Right Rule? Freight was carried in slow-moving wagons drawn by teams of oxen in New Jersey up until the late 19th Century. The wagon tops were canvas stretched tightly over frames. The wagons were like those seen on TV westerns. The most popular freight carrier was called the Conestoga Wagon. The driver rode on the left side of the big wagon so that he could see how close he was to oncoming travelers. To do so, he kept his wagon on the right hand side of the road. Next time you see a Keep to the Right sign, remember those Conestoga wagons! What was the principal form of nightly entertainment in many homes? Parents who read their young children stories before sleep are maintaining the last vestige of a family tradition that, until the advent of the radio and television, was a principal form of nightly entertainment in many homes. In Puritan times, children were subjected to a period of Bible reading in the early evening, and in more secular 18th and 19th century, the nightly texts were taken from the classics anything from Virgil to Dickens.

5 INSIDE THE BRICK ACADEMY PAGE 5 COMING UP 85TH ANNIVERSARY OF THSSH! What was going on 85 years ago that greatly influenced Bernards Township history? At the September trustees meeting there will be a commemoration to mark the 85th anniversary of the founding of the Basking Ridge Historical Society (forerunner of The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills). On September 23, 1928 a group of residents met in the Maple Avenue School (site of the present Bernards Township Library) and decided to organize and foster local history. Programs were in the school, members homes, the library at 2 North Finley Avenue and later in Town Hall, then in the Brick Academy. In 1975, municipal offices relocated to Collyer Lane. Today, the Society leases the building from Bernards Township and preserves its history, provides factual information and offers programs on history. In 1988, in an effort to broaden its horizon, the name of the organization was changed to The Historical Society of the Somerset Hills. In 1991, a new 50-year lease was signed with the local government for the continuous use of the Brick Academy. The Society shall have exclusive use of the premises and shall endeavor to restore, renovate, and preserve the building, in view of its historical significance. Membership Welcome New Members! Michael & Elizabeth Seaman (Warner Robins, Georgia) Membership Dues Renewal envelopes for 2014 annual dues will be mailed soon. Prompt payment will provide revenue for our exhibits, programs and publications. Thank You! Please Patronize Our Sponsors: Advertising Space Available For rates and requirements... contact Florence Hallgring 5 Morristown Road, Bernardsville, NJ

6 P.O. Box 136 Basking Ridge, NJ Museum Hours: Sundays 2 to 4 PM THSSH Board of Trustees Chairman: Marcella Miccolis President: Daniel Lincoln Recording Secretary: Robin Marion Paula Axt, Brooks Betz, John Campbell, June Campbell, David Connolly, Sylvia Gambony, Pat Gray, Florence Hallgring, June Kennedy, Connie Smythe, Lawrence Terricone, Martine White, and Sue Zibelli The Brick Academy 15 West Oak Street Basking Ridge, NJ