Crossroads Am. Rev. Recognizes Importance of Loyalist Studies

This Month’s Crossroads of the American Revolution has an article about the Vought House (second article) and another about the importance of Loyalists to the story of the Crossroads of the American Revolution (fourth below) so I copied and pasted it here.

Crossroads Gazette May 2012

May is National Preservation Month   Ensure that our nation’s treasures will be protected for future generations by spreading the word about the importance of preservation during National Preservation Month. Sponsored by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, this year’s theme, “Discover America’s Hidden Gems,” calls for people to celebrate the many historic treasures that can be found right in their own community.  NTHP encourages historic sites to reach out to a growing audience of neighbors, tourists, students and preservationists by promoting your historic place as a valuable and accessible asset in your community, and encouraging newcomers to learn more about your local treasure. For ideas on how you can help promote and celebrate National Preservation Month, visit  www.preservationnation.org/take-action/preservation-month/  Preservation of the 1759 Vought House The Vought House in Hunterdon County represents one successful story of historic preservation. The old farmhouse had been acquired in a land purchase by the Clinton Township School District in 2004 to build a new middle school. Originally slated for demolition, the Clinton Township Historic Preservation Commission had the site surveyed and discovered that the original part of the house was built in 1759 by Christoffel Vought, a British Loyalist during the American Revolution.   This past March, that house was deeded to the 1759 Vought House, Inc. The transfer of ownership was the culmination of over a decade of work to save the farmhouse from demolition and a six-year effort by the nonprofit to acquire and preserve the structure. That organization will now develop the house into a historic museum promoting the study of New Jersey society during the revolutionary war era. It will be the first museum in New Jersey interpreted as a Loyalist home.   But while the preservation of the site is assured, there is still much work to do before it will become a history and education center.   The 1759 Vought House, Inc. needs to raise funds to restore the house, preserve the ceilings, hire professionals, and interpret it as a museum. They are looking for volunteers and financial support.   You can help jump-start the process by volunteering to help clean up the grounds of the Vought House on Saturday, May 5th.  The clean up begins at 1pm.  If interested in helping, please contact don@1759House.org.  For more information about the site, visit www.1759House.org.   Spirit of the Jerseys State History Fair     History comes alive at the Spirit of the Jerseys State History Fair, Saturday, May 12, 2012 at Washington Crossing State Park.  This free, award-winning historical festival is fun for the entire family.  Mark your calendar and plan for a full day of activities.  Special features for 2012 include: Art Exhibit featuring NJ’s Historic Heritage; Talk by Martha Washington, as portrayed by Janice Erickson Smith; Antiques Appraisal – bring your treasured antiques for appraisal by members of the Associated Antique Dealers of NJ.  $5 per item; The Colonial Conjurer, Levram the Great, performs magic!; Tuckers’ Tales Puppet Theater presents “I’ll Take No Tea”; GPS Heritage Cache Challenge; Rich Pawling of History Alive! will be returning as canal boat captain “Cappy Hummel”; Open Hearth Cooking. More information on the History Fair, including a list of over 101 Things To Do, can be found at www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/historic/centennial.  This Month in History: Loyalist New Jersey    Preservation of the Vought property (see story above) should bring much needed attention to an overlooked, yet extremely important, part of New Jersey’s Revolutionary War experience.  Loyalists remained active in New Jersey throughout the war and many fled across the Atlantic or north to Canada after the British defeat.   This exodus actually started much earlier for some. Just one month after the first shots were fired at Lexington and Concord, Rev. Thomas Bradbury Chandler, rector of St. John’s Church in Elizabethtown, fled to England after having “been often threatened by the Sons of Liberty…and having received Intimations from my Friends that I was in much personal danger” (diary entry May 15, 1775). Chandler was considered to be a vociferous supporter of the crown, writing pamphlets with titles such as What Think Ye of Congress Now?   Even toward the end of the war, many Loyalists still expected victory. In May 1781, Samuel Ryerse, an officer with the 4th New Jersey Volunteers, wrote to his brother George, a Bergen County farmer, of his continued “hope to drive the Rebels out of the [Country] or make them own [King] George their Master.”  Obviously Captain Ryerse’s hopes were dashed a few months later at Yorktown and he eventually emigrated to Ontario.   Loyalist tales are essential to New Jersey’s role as the Crossroads of the American Revolution.  Many more remain to be told.   NJ’s 10 Most Endangered Historic Places    Bring your picket signs and join Preservation New Jersey on May 16 at 10:00am for the big reveal of the 2012 list of New Jersey landmarks that need our help.   May 16 will mark the 18th annual announcement of the “10 Most Endangered Historic Places in New Jersey.”  The listing of this year’s threatened landmarks promises another round of much-needed attention for New Jersey’s threatened heritage.  And attention can save a landmark.  Show your support and help Preservation New Jersey generate that attention by showing up on the NJ State House steps for the press conference and rally.  Be a catalyst for preservation! Uncover Your Revolutionary Spirit Discover Revolutionary New Jersey www.revolutionarynj.org

Newsletter funding made possible by:       Crossroads of the American Revolution National Heritage Area Partners:

Loyalism Expert Todd W. Braisted to Speak June 7 at David Library of the American Revolution at Washington’s Crossing, PA

 Todd W. Braisted, an independent researcher specializing in the Loyalist Military, will give a talk at the David Library on Thursday, June 7 at 7:30 titled, The American Vicars of Bray: Washington’s Army and the raising of the Loyalist Provincial Corps at Philadelphia, 1777-1778. The talk will examine the correlation between desertion in Washington’s Army and the raising of new recruits for the British during the crucial months of September 1777 through June 1778 when the British Army occupied Philadelphia.

Mr. Braisted has appeared as an on camera expert on the PBS Series History Detectives and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s Who Do You Think You Are? He served as a coordinator for the recent New Jersey Network documentary Ten Crucial Days. He is the co-author of Moving On: Black Loyalists in the Afro-Atlantic World; The Revolutionary War in Bergen County; Revolutionary Bergen County, and The Loyalist Corps, and is an Editorial Board member and columnist for American Revolution magazine.

To reserve a seat, email the David Library at rsvp@dlar.org.

Christopher A. Vought at Title Transfer

Everyone had a really good time Saturday at the title transfer celebration.  After Christopher A. Vought, the direct descendant and namesake of the man who built this house, accepted the deed on behalf of the non-profit he shared with us what the day meant to him.

Descendent to Accept Title as School District Transfers Loyalist House to Non-profit

Title Transfer Celebration, Clinton Township Middle School, March 3, 2012 at 2 pm

The Press Release is a PDF linked here: Vought House Press Release 3-3-12

Celebrate Title Transfer to The 1759 Vought House Inc.

Please join us  in celebrating the transfer of title to the Vought
House property from the Clinton Township School District to
The 1759 Vought House,A Revolutionary War Loyalist
Homestead non-profit.
The celebration begins at 2pm on Saturday March 3rd at the
Vought House 34  Grayrock Road, Clinton, NJ 08809
- with a reception to follow in the school cafeteria. 

The 1759 Vought House Trustees look forward to seeing all of you
who have helped to make this exciting  event possible.

RSVP by reply email   info@1759house.org

Don Sherblom
The 1759 Vought House, A Revolutionary War Loyalist Homestead
PO Box 369, Annandale, NJ 08801

Original Shakes Discovered at 1759 House

This just in from Michael Margulies at Eclectic Architecture, LLC

“Exploring the 1759 Vought House behind the walls with Adam Wengryn of Restoration Technologies, we came across samples of the original 18th c. shakes and cut-offs from the valley when the addition went on circa 1820 – These were left for us to find nearly 200 years ago.  This is what it is all about!”

2012: A Great Year for the Vought House!

Hello everyone, 2012 what an exciting year! After a seemingly endless six years, we will finally take possession of the Vought House. On Monday Jan 9th the Vought House Board voted to accept the purchase contract hammered out by our attorney over the past couple of months.  We will finally take possession of the Vought House in late February or early March!

We will be putting together a significant grant application for Hunterdon County Open Space and Historic Preservation funds.  Ownership is a requirement of that application.  A few board members are currently developing estimates for the most pressing work, such as the cost of a historically accurate cedar shake roof and writing the grant.  We will ask key stakeholders for a written statement of support for this grant. At the meeting, we also decided to seek resolutions of support for the overall project from the Township governing body and from the Superintendent of Schools, among others.

We need to start thinking seriously of what the title transfer event will look like.  This house and land was confiscated by Hunterdon County and sold to a patriot at an auction in 1779.  Two and a quarter centuries later, another government entity, this time the township school district, will be selling this boarded-up old house (for a nominal $17.76) to The 1759 Vought House Inc. (a non-profit public charity). This is an historic event.  This non-profit will re-open the doors to this house and invite people to imagine stepping into an earlier time, when this was a thriving farmstead, a beautiful well-furnished home, before the tranquility of this community was shattered by the American crisis of the mid-1770s.

As The 1759 Vought House restores this artifact, that imagined past will come into focus, what the house looked like and the farm, the conflicts which spurred local events, the personal sacrifices that played a role in making this an independent nation, in short the contest of patriot and loyalist that defined America’s first civil war, of neighbor against neighbor. The transformation of this house from an eye-sore into an asset for the wider community begins when the schoool district sells this house to The 1759 Vought House Inc. and continues with the supprt of that community.

Next Step:  School board probably vote on approving the contract on JANUARY 23rd – CTMS at 7:30.
Our next  meeting – a breakfast roundtable – will be January 26.  We’ve also set the yearly meeting schedule:

• Regular board meetings, the 2nd Monday of every month at 5 pm at 44 Leigh St. Clinton
• Breakfast roundtable, the fourth Thursday at 8 am at the Clinton Country Griddle
• the dates are: Monday at 5 pm:  2-13, 3-12, 4-9, 5-14, 6-11, 7-9, 8-13, 9-10, 10-8, 11-12, 12-10
• the Breakfast at 8 am: 1-26, 2-23, 3-22, 4-26, 5-24, 6-28, 7-26, 8-23, 9-27, 10-25 and Exception= 11-15  (no Dec breakfast)

Please email any thoughts or suggestions, etc.  Hope to see you at the January 23 Board of Ed meeting as we move ever closer to 1776.