November 2013

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Somerset County Historical Society - Annual Meeting
Sunday, November 17; 2:00pm
9 Van Veghten Drive
Bridgewater, NJ 08807

Special guest speaker: Dr. Richard Veit

Topic: Archaeology and the Delaware Indians: A 12,000-Year Odyssey

This heavily illustrated presentation examines New Jersey's rich Native American heritage. It begins with a discussion of the sources archaeologists use to inform their work, including artifacts, archaeological sites, colonial documents, and oral histories. Then, using a series of case studies the cultural history of the region is examined from the earliest Paleoindian pathfinders over 10,000 years ago through to the Lenape of the historic period. We see the changing lifestyles of New Jersey's native inhabitants as the environment they lived in slowly evolved. The experience of the Lenape in the historic period is also examined through a series of case studies. The presence and continuing importance of Native Americans to the region today is also discussed. Richard Veit is Professor of Anthropology and Director of the Center for Excellence in Teaching and Learning at Monmouth University. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. He has authored or co-authored numerous articles and reviews and five books including Digging New Jersey's Past: Historical Archaeology in the Garden State (Rutgers Press 2002), New Jersey Cemeteries and Tombstones History in the Landscape (Rutgers Press 2008), and New Jersey: A History of the Garden State (Rutgers Press 2012). He serves on the New Jersey Historical Commission and on the boards of the Society for Historical Archaeology, Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology, Crossroads of the American Revolution, and the Archaeological Society of New Jersey. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Blackwell Mills Canal House

Nov. 9 & 10

ART EXHIBIT & SALE: Our in–house artist, Barbara Della Peruta, returns with original paintings on canvas for your enjoyment and purchase. HOURS: Saturday ~ 11 a.m. - 4 p.m. Sunday  ~  11 a.m. - 4 p.m.

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Heritage Trail Programs
http://www.heritagetrail.org/events.htm

"The Hidden Treasures of the North County"

Saturday, November 16
Two tours - 10:00 am and 2:00 pm

Join the Heritage Trail Association on Saturday, November 16th for a rare look at some of northern Somerset County’s hidden treasures. This two-and-a-half hour bus tour in celebration of the County’s 325th anniversary will visit the Kate Macy Ladd estate at Natirar, the James Cox Brady stables and Trophy Room at Hamilton Farms, and the Fireman’s Museum in Somerville. 

The tour will run at 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and leave from the historic Van Horne House at 941 East Main Street in Bridgewater.  Reservations are required. The cost is $15 with advanced payment and $20 with payment at the door. Reservations may be made online, or by calling 732-356-8856. 

In 1905 Walter Graeme Ladd and his wife “Kate” Everit Macy Ladd began acquiring small farmsteads in the Somerset Hills, soon creating one of the largest estates in the area. They named their estate “Natirar” – Raritan spelled backwards. The magnificent mansion, designed by the prominent architects Guy Lowell and Henry J. Hardenberg, eventually became a home for convalescing women, and 50 years after Mrs. Ladd’s death was sold to King Hassan of Morocco.

Rebuilt in 1899 to replace a wooden shed that had housed the hand-drawn fire fighting apparatus, the fancifully styled Fireman’s Museum in Somerville was supposedly constructed with bricks and a stained glass window from a mansion taken down to build Borough Hall. The building also housed the first horse-drawn fire truck and Macky, the horse purchased to pull it.

James Cox Brady also bought land in the Somerset Hills at the turn of the 19th century. At its zenith, his estate, Hamilton Farms, claimed 5,000 acres and stretched over three counties.  Its jewel was Mr. Brady’s stables which during his lifetime housed some of the best driving animals in the United States as well as a collection of magnificent carriages.

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