Presidents Day Blog Project: James Madison and the War of 1812

This year marks the two-hundredth anniversary of the War of 1812, a much forgotten conflict between the United States and Great Britain. This week’s feature as part of the Presidents Day Blog Project is a letter from President James Madison in November of 1814 to the Governor of New York, Daniel D. Tompkins, future Vice President under James Monroe. With the war over two years in, both sides were looking for a way to end hostilities. The Americans were in favor of returning to the status quo ante bellum, while the British were initially interested in preserving gains made in the war. The year 1814 would see more than just the burning of Washington; it would also see the completion of the negotiations at Ghent and the signing of a peace treaty that effectively put relations between the two countries back to their prewar status. Though Andrew Jackson would go on to fight at New Orleans in January of 1815, the war was semi-officially ended at the signing in December of 1814, and officially with President Madison’s declaration in February 1815.

This week’s document lends an interesting perspective from the state of New York on the prospects of ending the war, but also a larger example of the widespread yearn to bring the war to an end. The letter is from President James Madison to Governor Tompkins in response to a unanimous resolution passed by both Houses of the Legislature of New York “expressing the emotions with which they view the terms of peace proposed by the British commissioners at Ghent, and recommending the most vigorous measures for bringing the war to an honorable termination.” Madison expresses his gratitude to the unanimous resolution with “language [that] does great honor to the patriotism and just sentiments of the State…”

           

With the many anniversaries upon us these next few years, it is important to make sure the War of 1812 does not lack in proper attention, both to the artifacts that have survived from the conflict but also the historical significance of the event itself.

Post By: Bruce Spadaccini Jr., Museum Technician
If you are interested in reading more on the material available here at Morristown National Historical Park on the War of 1812, feel free to contact the staff. More manuscripts may be featured in the future provided there is further interest in the subject.

Presidents Day Blog Project: Abraham Lincoln

In our "Presidents Day Blog Project" entry last week we took a look at some documents from George Washington. This week we turn to our 16^thpresident, Abraham Lincoln.

Sometimes the smallest notes mean the world to someone, and in this week’s letter we’ll see that. The above letter was written to President Lincoln on December 8^th, 1863 from the town of Janesville, Illinois. It asks for Lincoln’s interference in a court martial decision against “a young soldier” who was sentenced to death. The petitioners cite the soldier’s “extreme youth” and “his aged parents” as reasons for Lincoln’s clemency. Lincoln's note reads: "In this case, let the sentence of death be commuted to imprisonment at hard labor for life. A. Lincoln. Jan. 7, 1864."

William Blake had been convicted of murder and further telegrams from Lincoln tell and even deeper story. The Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln and the Abraham Lincoln Association have published a telegram from Lincoln to Major General Butler, William Blake’s commander on December 21, 1863. The telegram read:

“It is said that William H. Blake is under sentence of death at Fort-Magruder, in your Department. Do not let him be executed without further order from me, & in the mean time have the record sent me. He is said to belong to the 1st. or 2nd. Pennsylvania Artillery. A. Lincoln.”[1]

Butler replied:

“General Butler replied on December 22: ``Private Wm. H. Blake Batty E 1st. Penn Artillery, is under sentence of death by hanging for murder. In my judgment a very deliberate one. He will not be executed without further orders from you."[2]

Interesting that General Butler found the accused murder “a very deliberate one”. Nonetheless, Blake’s sentence was commuted by Lincoln to life imprisonment with hard labor, as seen in our image above. Blake would then receive a presidential pardon in April of 1864.

For fans of Lincoln, the town of Janesville, Illinois might ring a bell: it was the town Lincoln’s parents settled in after moving to Illinois (first in Macon County, then to Janesville in Coles County) in 1830. Though Lincoln went off to work in New Salem, Illinois at this time, he returned to Janesville to visit. In 1851, with the death of his father, Thomas, Abraham continued to help maintain the homestead for his mother (Lincoln’s birth mother died when he was just 9). The important note in all of this is that Lincoln would have been known by the residents of Janesville, and he most certainly would have recognized the town heading the letter pictured above.

It might be said that the residents who drew up this petition thought they needed Lincoln to recognize the town it was coming from, which explains the overly large “J” at the top of the letter. This is only speculation, but such writing would presumably draw Lincoln’s attention, perhaps aiding their request of him.

Post by: Bruce Spadaccini (Museum Technician)

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[1] Source: Collected Works of Abraham Lincoln, Volume 7, Abraham Lincoln Association and the University of Michigan, available at: http://quod.lib.umich.edu/l/lincoln/

[2] Ibid.

Presidents Day Blog Project: George Washington

"To Colonel Benedict Arnold, Commander of the Detachment of the Continental Army destined against Quebec."

      

           With February commemorating Presidents Day, it seems fitting to feature some of the artifacts in our collection here at Morristown National Historical Park relating to past presidents. With the help of Lloyd W. Smith, MNHP has in its collection artifacts pertaining to the first thirty-two presidents, from George Washington to Franklin Delano Roosevelt. With several hundred items to choose from, it was difficult on deciding which to showcase this month. Naturally, we begin with George Washington, whose 280^th birthday is celebrated on the 22^nd of this month and officially commemorated on Presidents’ Day on the 21^st this month.

            Before jumping into this week’s article, let’s take a moment to review a note from our curator, Jude Pfister, D. Litt.:

"As with most prominent individuals of the time, and especially someone of Washington's prominence, he had a small army of copyists and writers who would prepare letters and correspondence for his signature and in some routine matters even sign for him. This was not unusual; in fact, it is even done today. This particular letter in the Morristown collection is an example of one of those letters. Naturally, this practice makes it difficult to determine what is an actual Washington letter. Fortunately, in terms of intrinsic, historical importance, we don't need to worry about whose pen this particular letter came from. The importance of this letter lies in its content."

Pictured above you will see the headline “To Colonel Benedict Arnold Commander of the Detachment of the Continental Army destined against Quebec.” This intriguing document is a contemporary copy of a letter written from General George Washington to Colonel Benedict Arnold on September 14, 1775.

Washington makes note that Arnold’s command is “of the utmost consequence to the interest and liberties of America…” and the entire document is symbolic of the wider goal of attracting other British colonies to the cause of American independence. Washington warns Arnold to observe the strictest discipline and order in the ranks, and to “avoid all disrespect or contempt of the religion of the Country.” With religion a hotbed of tension between the Protestant colonies on the eastern seaboard and the French Catholics in Quebec (and throughout North America), it was clearly pertinent for the army to avoid all conflicts on the issue.

To the right is an image of another letter sent by Washington on that date of Arnold’s exact orders, “You are by every means in your power to endeavor to discover the real sentiments of the Canadians towards our cause, and particularly as to this expedition.”

In fourteen separate points, Washington details instructions for Arnold and his officers. For instance, Arnold is instructed to pay full price for all provisions (a task hardly accomplished throughout the war) so as not to insult or deprive the Canadians. In essence, Arnold needs to take extreme care in this expedition, as its aims are sensitive to the direction of the war. The last thing Washington wants is to “irritate our fellow-subjects against us.” If these inhabitants (Native Americans are included in this address) do not seem open to cooperation with the cause, “The expense of the expedition and the disappointment are not to be put in competition with the dangerous consequences which may ensue from irritating them against us, and detaching them from that neutrality which they have adopted.” High hopes were placed on Canada, and though history would play out differently, these documents attest to the important Washington and Congress placed on incorporating other British colonies in the cause of liberty.


Post by:
Bruce Spadaccini (Museum Technician)
Jude Pfister, D. Litt (Curator)

Featured Manuscript: The Introduction of Historical Parks

Pen used by President Herbert Hoover to sign an Act to provide for the creation of Morristown National Historical Park.

Curator's Note:

Among American presidents, Herbert Hoover has endured his fair share of negative press. Rightly or wrongly, Hoover will forever be linked in history with the Great Depression, an event which overshadowed his administration and cumulative legacy. Nonetheless, Hoover lived a long and eventful life and had many accomplishments beyond the troubles he endured with the Great Depression.

One example, which may not readily come to most people’s memory, is Hoover’s role in the founding of the historical park model within the National Park Service (NPS). Until 1933, the NPS had operated national parks which still evoke the natural grandeur associated with unspoiled nature at its most pristine. Parks such as Yosemite, the Grand Canyon, and the Great Smokey Mountains, are examples of such natural wonders which the NPS manages for the benefit of all Americans. (continued below)

W. Warren Barbour letter to Clyde Potts, 1933.

Lawrence Richey letter to W. Warren Barbour, 1933.

Yet, America is certainly more than its magnificent natural wonders and in the late 1920s, NPS director Horace Albright began thinking about moving the agency into a new field—historic preservation. The concept of historic preservation was nothing new in the United States; what was new, however, was the idea that the NPS should perhaps get involved and leverage the power of the federal government to help safeguard America’s cultural patrimony. Historic sites throughout the country had been destroyed in what many believed was an almost criminal act. The willful, unmitigated destruction of our nation’s heritage was a topic which drew Albright’s attention as a subject worthy of his agency and his talent and ambition.

Prompted by such historic preservation efforts as Colonial Williamsburg, Albright searched for an opportunity to put his plan to a test. In Morristown, NJ, several prominent men, principle among them mayor Clyde Potts, and businessman Lloyd W. Smith, were independently working on an idea for forming some sort of memorial at the site of the Jockey Hollow Revolutionary War winter encampment in 1779-1780. Through their connections Smith and Potts found their way to Albright who welcomed their idea with gusto.

During the very early 1930s, Albright, Smith, and Potts, coalesced their individual ideas into a more coherent strategy and by 1932 had finished putting the final pieces into place to create a National Historical Park at Morristown focusing on the Jockey Hollow encampment. As this plan progressed through the bureaucratic process, the Washington Association of New Jersey, founded in 1874 and running the Ford Mansion as a historic site for nearly sixty years, decided to donate the Mansion (Washington’s headquarters during the 1779-1780 encampment) and their considerable museum and archival collection to the National Historical Park venture pursued by Albright, Smith, and Potts.

With the inclusion of the Ford Mansion, the new National Historical Park at Morristown took on an added, dramatic dimension. The museum and archival collection of the Washington Association necessitated the building of a standalone museum building to house and exhibit the collection. That building of course still stands today as designed by noted architect John Russell Pope in 1936.

Finally, to create a National Historical Park, an act of Congress, creating a bill, had to be passed. And, for that bill to become law, it needed the signature of the president. When President Hoover put pen to paper to create the law establishing Morristown National Historical Park on March 2, 1933, he joined a long established tradition among president’s of having the pen utilized to create a law saved as a memento of the occasion. Particularly, pens used to sign legislation creating a new aspect of an agency, or a new agency altogether, are especially coveted.

Therefore, the pen used by President Hoover to create Morristown National Historical Park, the first historical park in the NPS system and representing a giant leap into the evolving field of historic preservation for the NPS, is preserved as a memento of the simple act of placing a signature on a piece of paper. That simple act, represented with the pen shown here, has dramatically altered the field of historic preservation and the involvement of the NPS over nearly eighty years.

Featured Manuscript: Edith Wharton

Happy Birthday, Edith!

Curator's Note:

Edith Newbold Jones Wharton was born January 24^th, 1862 (150 years ago) in New York City to Lucretia and George Jones, members of a prominent New York City family of great wealth. Her childhood was one of privilege and comforts both in the United States and during extended stays in Europe. She was tutored in the fashion of the time for a girl of her social status. She was not prepared for a career beyond marriage other than ultimately taking her place as a matron in society.

recto

verso

Events were however moving society as a whole faster than the conservative, insulated society she was born into. She had a conventional upbringing for a girl of her time and class and saw her life as already mapped out for her from a young age. Yet, even her insulated realm was coming under attack. While the country nearly tore itself apart during the Civil War, she and her family remained safely removed from the horrors of war. Try as they might though, outside events could not be totally removed from the family’s life.

Outside of the tight knit, structured, prescribed environment within which the Jones family lived, young Edith began to sense her life could be more than presented to her. While nothing compared to the women’s rights movement of nearly a hundred years later, women during the later nineteenth century did experience a relative boost in the freedom’s allowed them. Edith Jones was quick to perceive this, and this perception only intensified after her marriage to Edward Wharton in 1885. Edward “Teddy” Wharton was not what we would consider to be a “good catch,” yet he was totally true to his social status.

Nearly suffocated by what she saw as the artificial limitations of her social state, she began to explore the options available to her as a woman as early as 1875. One area she felt particularly drawn to was writing. She felt a natural affinity to the craft of the writer and began to explore on her own her varied interests which she anticipated writing about. She published works of fiction and poetry throughout the late 1870s and 1880s before her marriage. Her first major publication however was not in the field of fiction or poetry. She was a noted amateur designer highly influenced by Classical Renaissance adaptations and with noted architect Ogden Codman wrote The Decoration of Houses in 1897.

To promote her ideas, she embarked on a building plan to construct a new home for herself based on her principles of design. The result, built in 1902 and named The Mount, in Lenox, MA, is a masterpiece of inspiration considered one of the truly fine works of architecture in the United States. Edith Wharton went on to a stunning career as a novelist and short story writer and was the first woman awarded the Pulitzer Prize in fiction in 1921 for her novel The Age of Innocence. She was a finalist for the Nobel Prize in 1927.

Why Morristown?

Morristown NHP is naturally best known for its association with George Washington, the Continental Army, and the terrible winter encampment of 1779-1780. But there is another side to the Morristown NHP story. In 1955, Lloyd W. Smith donated his vast rare book and manuscript collection to the park. While sometimes overlooked, the collection is a tremendous source of primary information. Among the hundreds of thousands of manuscripts is a short note from Edith Wharton to an editor and friend John Brisben Walker. The letter dates from July 19^th, 1900, and shows the life of a writer who is busy getting a work prepared for her publisher. Wharton is writing from Lenox, MA, not yet at The Mount, to Walker in New York. She asks Walker to send her a copy of the galleys for her short story “The Rembrandt.” The story was going to be published by Scribner’s and Wharton had left her galley copies in New York when she left for Lenox. She wanted to make final edits for Scribner’s before the deadline passed.

What this letter shows is not only the obvious, that Wharton was published by a major American publisher, Scribner’s, she was also actively involved with editing and preparation of her manuscripts. While a short letter overall, it does highlight several key points of the writer’s life which Edith Wharton is known for.

• Wharton, Edith. 1900, July 19. Lloyd W. Smith Archival Collection. LWS 2703. Morristown National Historical Park, Morristown, NJ.
  
  
• Edith Wharton Estate & Gardens

Student Intern Exhibit Features Native American Artifacts

In the fall of 2011, during an internship here at Morristown National Historical Park Museum, archaeology and anthropology major Brian Williams from Drew University utilized the Native American collection on site to create a temporary exhibit now on display at the museum. Through tedious research as well as some help from the staff here at Morristown National Historical Park, Brian created a fascinating exhibit showcasing some of the collection’s most unique artifacts.

Of the 20,000 Native American artifacts in the collection ranging from local tribes such as the Lenne Lenape to artifacts from across the Midwest and South, Brian focused in on a process called “knapping”. The tool-making process of Native Americans through knapping involved lithic reduction. This was done by striking workable material with a much harder tool, such as a rock. It was through this process that Native American tool making took a giant step forward during prehistoric times in North America. Through knapping, Native Americans formed sharper and more useful tools and weapons, some of which are exhibited in Brian’s display. Arrowheads are the most well-known products of knapping and are some of the most fascinating to look at.

The exhibit consists of two display cases, the first of which exhibits the tools used for the knapping process, while the second shows the process and end results of knapping. Included in the exhibit are some examples created by Brian himself in order to replicate the process while others are the actual artifacts in MNHP’s collection. Through Brian’s work in one short semester, we are now able to showcase some of the more unique artifacts in collection here at Morristown National Historical Park Museum.

Exhibit by Brian Williams, Drew University.

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

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

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!