T H E

        F U R N A C E

                                          Or Dutch Hill Almanack

 

Produc’d by the Offices of The Warren County Cultural & Heritage Commission at Shippen Manor Museum, the restored circa-1754 iron master’s mansion, in Oxford , New Jersey . The Museum is open to the publick on the first and second Sundays of every month from 1-4 pm. Special tours, school and group visits are available by appointment. The Commission also maintains nearby Oxford Furnace, a source of Patriot iron in the War of Independence . Please call (908)-453-4381 for more information, or visit our websyte at wcchc.org.

 

                                               “The Furnace” Revived

  Despite the necessity of budget cuts in the current troubles, the lamented Furnace has been revived after extensive consideration AND will resume its 18^th and early 19^th Century character to which it had evolved in its previous incarnation.

 

2009 Summer Lawn Concerts Continue At Shippen Manor

July 5         6-8pm    Celtic Crossroad……………………………………...………Celtic Acapella 

July 12       6-8pm     Straight Drive …………………………..………………..………….Bluegrass

July 19       6-8pm    Boulder Acoustic Society………….………….………New Acoustic Roots

July 26       6-8pm    Mountain Heritage…….…….………...…….. Sounds from the Mountains 

August 2   6-8pm   Odessa……………………………………………..Polish, German, Klezmer

August 9   6-8pm   Dirdy Birdies…………………………………………………………Jug Band

August 16 6-8pm    Second Fiddles………………………………...…Ragtime, Hokum & Swing

August 23 5-7pm   Paddy & The Pale Boys…………………………………….Irish Pub Music

August 30 5-7pm    Jeff Bellfy & Company……………………………….……Classic Rock Hits 

Sept.     6   5-7pm    Jug Town String Band……………………………………Old Time/Country

Sept.     13 5-7pm    Crazy Heart…………………………..…………………….Country/Western 

  Blankets/Lawn Chairs Recommended…Picnicking Is Permitted!

Presented by the Warren County Cultural & Heritage Commission, supported by the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders and funded in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of  State, a partner Agency of the National Endowment for the Arts. 

     

Hours Extended at Shippen Manor for July 4th

 As part of our ongoing efforts to expand museum services, Shippen Manor will be open for tours throughout the July 4th weekend! Hours on Friday & Saturday will be 11 am to 4 pm , with Curator Andy Drysdale serving as host and tour guide, as well as portraying a member of the Oxford ’s 18^th Century militia. Musket Demonstrations will be featured both days, as well as Open Hearth Cooking with Sally Shutler! Our regular program of tours will be offered on Sunday, July 5, 1-4 pm, by our dedicated staff of volunteers. The Manor will again be open on Saturday, July 11, 11 am to 4 pm and Sunday, July 12, 1-4 pm (see below). Information about August hours and the Oxford Summer Festival, Saturday, August 8, at the fire company, will be posted on the websyte soon.

 

“Dr. Shippen Day”-Period Medical Display & Discussion July 12

 A look at military field medicine will be conducted at Shippen Manor on Sunday, July 12, from 12 noon to 4 pm . In honor of the Drs. William Shippen, father and son, both of whom served in hospitals of the Continental Army, displays of period medical equipment will be presented by reenactors of the Revolutionary and Civil War eras. Interpretation will be ongoing; the Manor will be open for tours from 1-4 pm. Please call (908)-453-4381 for further information.

 

TENTH ANNUAL FIREBACK FIDDLE & BANJO CONTEST

                               Saturday September 19 at Noon

                                               On the Lawn at Shippen Manor

 

 

 

A Freeholders’ Resolution

On May 12, 1831 , the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders passed the following resolution:

 

 Resolved, That John M. Sherrerd, esq., be allowed the use of the public square in front of the court-house on the conditions of his written proposition and subscribed by him as follows-viz.:

 

 If the Board will let me have the use of it (viz.: the public square) for ten years, I will put up good substantial board fences around it, plant forest, fruit and ornamental trees on the same, and guarantee at the end of the term to leave at least one hundred trees alive on the square, leave the fence around it, and leave the ground leveled and in grass. The expenses of this fencing and planting will not be less than one hundred dollars and, as the ground left after taking off the four-rod street all around it will be less than four acres, I consider one tenth of the money and the interest a full and fair rent. Should the public be dissatisfied at any time during the ten years with it being shut up, and the Board of Freeholders express such wish to me, and pay me a proportioned part of my expenditures, of which I will keep an exact account, it shall be immediately given up to the Board.

Very respectfully yours, &c.,

                                     John M. Sherrerd

 

“DISTANT DRUMS” LIVING HISTORY PROGRAM AT SHIPPEN AVAILABLE FOR SCHOOLS, SUMMER CAMPS, SCOUT & SPECIAL GROUPS. IT’S FREE!!!

 

                                            ALMANACK

 At this latitude, at Dutch Hill, on Independence Day, the Glorious Fourth of July, sunrise will be at 5:34 am & sunset will be at 8:35 pm . On Saint Swithin’s Day, the Fifteenth Day of July, sunrise is expected at 5:44 am with sunset at 8:30 pm .  Subtract or add approximately one to one and one half minute per day to ascertain sunrise or sunset for past or future dates. A full moon will be visible on July 7, August 6, September 4 and October 4, weather depending. Predictions are made at Shippen Manor, that Independence Day will be mostly sunny and humid, with a chance of a shower; much the same for Saint Swithin’s Day as well.

Saint Swithin’s Day, if it does not rain

Full forty days, it will remain

Saint Swithin’s Day, if it be fair

For forty days, t’will rain no more

                                                                                -English, circa 16^th century

  With a 16^th Century accent, perhaps “more” rhymed with “fair”. It is predicted that the remainder of July will alternate between warm, humid days and the cold, rainy weather which has plagued the region since the beginning of Spring. An upswing in the temperatures will occur in the first two weeks of July; thunderstorms should be expected, the rest of the month more seasonable. August will be hot with lengthy periods of dry weather; September and October to be typically seasonal with the approach of Autumn. It is understood, though, that we have been surpris’d by dramatic reversals of fortune regarding the outcome our predictions in the past. On Labor Day, September 7, the sun will rise at 6:32 am & sunset will be at 7:22 pm. The season of fresh fruit is upon us, and dyspeptics are cautioned against overindulgence as our late President Zachary Taylor expired, quite unexpectedly, after consuming too many strawberries on a warm day. Subscribers are reminded to be certain that ice be clean in the preparation of summer tonics and punches & to use none that was harvested from canals, or from ponds of uncertain virtue. Keep hogs cool during hot weather, lest they be found wanting at November slaughter.

 

 

“Speak ill of no man, but speak all the good you know of everybody.”-Benjamin Franklin

 

 

Warren County

Cultural & Heritage Commission

Shippen Manor Museum

8 Belvidere Avenue,

Oxford, NJ 07863

 

The Furnace is published as a public service with funding from the Warren County Board of Chosen Freeholders. Commission programs are funded in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts/Department of State, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.