(c)
Copyright 1998-August, 2007
-etc., Tom j. Collins... an on-going project. He
does not endorse or control third party Web Site(s) contents.
Images, other than by T. Collins, are the (c) of their representative
owners.
"Learning is fun !" It
makes you such a great conversationalist !
For Fun see
NPS' WASHINGTON'S HEAD QUARTERS Click
and a site of the
HQ by "The WASHINGTON ASSN OF NJ" Click
*************
TRIVIA <= CLICK
About our history :In 1715, Kay, Stevenson and Helby bought about 4500 acres at the present site of Morristown and part of Morris Township from the Council of Proprietors of the Western Division of New Jersey.
King George II gave a church bell to the Presbyterian Church in Morristown - about 1763 - before the Revolutionary War.
The roots of Brown University of Rhode Island, began at Morristown as the Hopewell Academy (circa 1750), the first Baptist Theological School. Reverend Isaac Eaton and Brown University's first president, Rev. James Manning, began as preachers at our First Baptist Church. This is the group that most supported "the separation of church and state."
The tall hill directly above downtown Morristown had a reservoir and a cemetery on the hillside - just below Fort Nonsense.
This hill is near Mount Kemble along Mount Kemble Avenue (202 South). Peter Kemble's daughter married the "enemy general", General Gage. GW once dined with Gage in New York. Down the line at Harding Township on route 202 - near Jockey Hollow - was Jacob Larzelears Half Moon Tavern.
Morristown had 57 houses and buildings in the Revolutionary War days.
Maple Avenue, as seen in walking tour1 above, was Railroad Avenue in 1838, when the train station was there at De Hart Street.
President Millard Fillmore wed Morristown's Carolyn Carmichael.
President William C. Harrison wed Morristown's Anita Symmes. Her son, William H. Harrison, was also PRESIDENT of the USA.HERSHEY CHOCOLATE was founded by Milton Hershey who, in 1862, worked on South Street at Day's Confectionery (next to "The Office" Restaurant - now part of Epstein's Department Store).
Rolley-Polley Santa Claus came from here. So did the the
donkey and elephant of the major parties. The tiger of a political cartoonist, Thomas Nast had something to do with it!St. Margaret's Roman Catholic Church was began in 1885.
The AMERICAN LEGION 's first National Commander was Morristown's Franklin D' Olier.
Sharp-shooter ANNEY OAKLEY married Morristown's Frank Class.Young (later President) Theodore Roosevelt stayed nearby at an estate called "the Holt".
"The Seeing Eye" - the private dog training organization for the Blind - is nearby. Training is on Morristown streets. Drive carefully!*************
Thanks for some of the above information from John Viola.
****************
Yes !
Vacation in Historic
MORRISTOWN, NJThis peaceful but active community, the restaurant capitol of the highlands and skylands of New Jersey - was a major Military Capital of the American Revolution - and can now be a strategic "day-trip center" for explorers of our Roots and for admirers of GEORGE WASHINGTON
- his character, good sense and rugged stamina.
*****************
Just as history-buffs of the of the of the CIVIL WAR go to
Gettysburg or Vicksburg to learn of the Civil War,
which resulted in death and great pain, but after 100 years - led to a sibilance of unity, allowing a strong nation to cope with the "century of world wars."
History-buffs and lovers of sophisticated vacations now go to Cambridge, Morristown, Alexandria, and Philadelphia
to absorb experiences of our other civil war, the AMERICAN REVOLUTION -
which resulted in a break from arbitrary non-representative foreign rule from overseas.
The main "jump - off" sites for such study are :
CAMBRIDGE, Mass. to travel to BOSTON, Concord, Lexington, Dorchester Heights, Maine, Quebec, Montreal, Ticonderoga, Vermont, Connecticut and Rhode Island,
MORRISTOWN, NJ to travel to New York City, Preakness, Somerville, Princeton, Trenton, Brandywine, Valley Forge, PA and Newburgh, NY.
ALEXANDRIA, VA to see Mount Vernon, Pope's Creek, Ferry Farm, Fredericksburg, Williamsburg, Yorktown, VA; Annapolis, MD; Washington, DC and Charleston, SC.
PHILADELPHIA to study the roots and documents of our Democratic-Republic and Washington's early experiences near Pittsburgh. For our Constitution, the founders considered early governments of Greece, Italy, France (Montesquieu outlined the three separate government branches - executive, legislative, and judicial) and England (John Locke reminded us that governments exist to protect the minority, and that man had inalienable rights of life, freedom of speech and thought, and also of property). Our laws look back to the Ten Commandments, Roman Law, the English Bill of Rights, the Magna Carta, the Mayflower Charter, local customs - and current legal needs.
Have your travel agent book
MorrisTown, NJ
LODGING
NEAR MORRISTOWN
Click for
HOTELS/MOTELS
COUNTYWIDE Click for
HOTELS/MOTELS
Morristown is just over "60 minutes from BROADWAY" and "WALL STREET" via train, bus or car.And it is a pleasant drive to skyland lakes, great ocean beaches, the fabulous Hudson River Valley and the Delaware River for canoeing.
VACATION HERE ! ... Visit NY State, NYC & PA.
You may have read the below trivia on another page or module.
SOME HISTORY ... ====== DID YOU KNOW ? ===TOP
The year 1 9 9 9 is the 2 0 0 th year since
GEORGE WASHINGTON passed away.
George Washington slept in mite-infested houses, met Indians at pow-wows, and swam horses across rivers. He helped the sick, went aboard ships, negotiated with French Generals, hiked for hundreds of miles through snow drifts, fell into the raging ice-filled Allegheny River; he explored on horseback and in canoes. He made big mistakes, had horses shot from under him, received bullet-holes through his clothing, met the poor, the industrious, married a rich widow who shared the tough times with him - as well as the good life. He socialized with an unbelievable number of folks. He devoted time to town-government and also to the Virginia House of Burgess. He dined with governors, lordly and common neighbors, danced with pretty ladies, suffered feisty and ambitious politicians. And he got along with people from many countries, religions and races. His friendship with La Fayette saved-the-day.
For years, his armies were without support of a strong navy; his soldiers were often facing starvation and forces of superior numbers. Washington had a hot temper, but learned the patience of a saint, compromise and good judgement. He selected the option of a protracted war against a more mobile enemy with its powerful navy. He persevered when hope was slim. He created a large network of coastal observers, beacons, and spies. He was a thinking general, who even used the techniques of disinformation. As a youth, he had learned rules of good manners, which included respect for others. He believed in God and thanked the creator at each victory. Though he attended one particular religion, he would also respect and attend others. By meeting many men, he learned to carry humility and a cap on his ambition. He cherished the fact that he became respected and loved by his countrymen.
He slept in tents, in shared-large-houses, under open sky and in small cabins. But once, he was given a bed, while Martha and her son slept on the floor beside him. He gave of himself in bone-jarring horseback ventures and very lengthy travels before, during and after the War of Independence - to the West, North, South and Middle States. And in his Will he firmly provided to educate and free his slaves.
By example, as the first President, he changed "selfish leaders of state governments" to give their support to a "reasonably sized national government". He brought us a NATION and RESPONSIBLE INDEPENDENCE. He hoped that we would make this Nation and Independence thrive. We could keep his hopes alive by personally developing character, responsibility and a loving spirit tempered with common sense !
. . .
Washington made his
HEADQUARTERS
in the Highlands of NJ and NY
as a cockpit
for the
American Revolution.
Visit Washington's HEADQUARTERS at MORRISTOWN, stay here and travel from here to some of Washington's other headquarters. Be a student of Washington's patience, and be a student of the suffering & courageous actions taken near ==>
TRENTON,
PRINCETON,
Newtown,
MORRISTOWN-on-the-Green,
BRANDYWINE,
Valley Forge,
Englishtown, Freehold-MONMOUTH-COURTHOUSE,
Somerville-WALLACE HOUSE, MORRISTOWN Ford-Family House,
PREAKNESS,
WEST POINT,
DOREMUS HOUSE,
NEWBURGH,
New Castle,
WALL ST.
WASHINGTON slept in Basking Ridge in 1773 before the war.
(c) Copyright 1998-August, 2007 -etc., Tom j. Collins... an on-going project. He does not endorse or control third party Web Site(s) contents. Images, other than by T. Collins, are the (c) of their representative owners.
GW came to "Strategic MORRISTOWN " eight times =>
May 25, 1773 .... two years before the war began . . . then,Jan. 6 - May 28, 1777 then
July 4 - July 11, 1777 and then on
July 26, 1777, .... then 2 years later,
June 3, 1779, ... then with the army
DEC. 1, 1779 - JUNE 1, 1780, and
Nov. 28, 1780, but also,
Mar. 24 - Mar. 28,1782 with Martha after the victory at Yorktown on the way toward West Point. Mar 24 - Mar 28, 1782 needs multi source verification.
He first came here two years before the war, in May 1773 with his stepson John Parke Custis. They traveled via Baltimore and Philadelphia, where they met with Ben Franklin's Loyalist son William Franklin and patriot Robert $ Morris. Lord Stirling (originally, William Alexander, whose father, James fought for freedom of the press with John Peter Zenger) came with George and John via Princeton to Lord Stirling's manor house at the great swamp near Basking Ridge. The next afternoon was spent at Loyalist Peter Kemble's house on Route 202 just south of MorrisTown.
Washington's party then continued via ElizabethTown to the large village of New York, where Washington's stepson, "Jacky" Parke Custis, registered at Kings College, now Columbia University. Custis booked a three room suite, a horse, a groom, a valet and was given access to the faculty dining room (spoiled kid?).
George met and dined with General Thomas Gage (who married Peter Kemble's daughter). Gage was an acquaintance of Washington from the French and Indian War days. In that war GW had had two horses shot from under him and had four bullets pass through his clothing. In 1775, two years from this meeting, the future Governor and General Thomas Gage would be the top British General facing Washington at Boston.
Washington reconnoitered some of New Jersey when he returned home via Newark, Perth Amboy, Brunswick, Princeton, and Bristol. Soon after returning home to Mount Vernon.
Patcy Custis, his stepdaughter, died suddenly of an epileptic seizure. John Custis then returned to Virginia.
Earlier, in 1759, George had married the widow, Martha Dandridge Custis, and had welcomed two stepchildren and more than 17,000 acres from New Kent county west of Williamsburg, VA. This would add to his family's Mount Vernon lands. During the war years, Martha left the safety of Mount Vernon and traveled under harsh conditions to the winter encampments each year. Martha was in the Boston area, New York town, MorrisTown-Arnold's Tavern, Valley Forge, Philadelphia-Somerville, MorrisTown-Ford HQ, West Point area, Rockingham, and Newburgh. Maybe we should institute a day to celebrate "first ladies."
Even earlier, in 1753, Washington had been as far north as about four miles south of Erie, Pa. on an adventure of epic dimensions and "freezing experiences." Subsequently, George was a factor in sparking the French and Indian War and the "Seven Years War" - based upon accusations above his signature, when he surrendered at Fort Necessity, Pa. Subsequently, in 1756, Washington went as far north as Boston to see Governor William Shirley to settle a dispute with a Captain Dagworthy regarding military rank. Upon returning via New York, he escorted the very attractive Mary Eliza Philipse. In those, the "days-of-dowries" and "power-from-land," she owned 51,000 acres, which surrounded Philipsburg Manor, N Y. But "sparks" did not fly; there was no romance!
France relinquished her holdings in North America. Britain became the world's most powerful nation. Good times followed. But later, in "the worst of times," Washington and others would elect to fight - for freedom and for a democratic republic - against that "most powerful nation of the world," which he had helped to create. He would then have enough good sense and courage to seek an alliance with his old enemy, France!
The father of a small French child, Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier, had been killed in war with Britain. The lonely lad later became a guard to the king of France. At age 20, he came here on his own ship Liberty with his fortune and with a purpose seeded in childhood - to fight the British. He and his connections saved the American rebels when "our goose was cooked." He became a Major General and a dear friend of George and Martha during and after the war. We know him as the "Marquis de Lafayette." George's Will itemizes the gift of "a pair of finely wrought steel Pistols, taken from the enemy in the Revolutionary War to 'General de la Fayette.'" (Those may be the pistols now at the Chateaux Lafayette at Charaniac-Lafayette of Haute-Loir, France). We welcomed the Marquis as a great hero with love and celebration, when he toured his old memory-sites in 1824 and 1825.
Tall, "reddish-brown-headed" GW, of modest means, also lost his father (Gus) early, at just age 11. George moved to live with his once sea-going older half brother, Lawrence, who had married into the famous and powerful neighboring family, related to Lord Thomas Fairfax. We are happy that George decided to choose adventures on horseback, not at sea! George's early discipline and outdoor-lifestyle was "character building"; it is well worth a study!
And later, during the Revolutionary War, the skylands or highlands of MorrisTown proved to be strategically central for observing the enemy's movements in the Hudson River theater of war, with New England as the prize. Highly defendable MorrisTown also is located between the big prizes of New York and Philadelphia.
MorrisTown was beyond range of the British navy-cannons from New York Harbor. Any surprises by British or Hessian troops would not easily succeed in the NJ-NY Highlands, beyond the Great Swamp, Black Swamp and the Great Meadows. Largely, one third of the Americans were fighting a war without a large navy - against Lord North and a British king who was of German origin, and against British troops and the Hessians from Germany.
Washington chose MorrisTown for the winter encampment of his army - in the smallpox years of 1776-1777... And again in the war's worst winter of 1779-1780, when snow was chest deep - worse than the Valley Forge days of two years before!
Even more "thanks" go to George Washington and his associates for the years after the war, when they helped change this government from a bickering confederacy [Articles of Confederacy] to a "Nation" with a concept of "balance of power within" and enough "stability for power in the larger world scene."
Today, persons who are striving for state-government over national-government, could remember that state and city governments have a history of being more corrupt and unreachable than even a moderate sized national government. ...
so, make changes with care and in moderation !!!
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Copyrighted 1998-August, 2007
-etc., by Tom
j. Collins, for this site and the elements.
He does not endorse or control third party Web Site(s) contents. Images,
other than by T. Collins, are the (c) of their representative
owners. Permission from T. Collins is required via the site's guest book
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This
page was l a s t u p d a t e d by Morristown
. org and
Revwar . org
God
Bless America
T. Collins in NJ, USA on 08/05/07 10:32 AM
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In God We Trust