American Revolution Round Table of South Jersey

Putting the pieces together.

A few years back,  I volunteered at several historic sites that had some significance in American history.  At each of the sites, I learned a great deal that I hadn't known before.  I spent varying amounts of time as a volunteer in these places and engaged in a variety of jobs.  The one where I spent the longest amount of time was the James and Ann Whitall House at Red Bank Battlefield.

You really could spend an entire lifetime learning the American Revolution, and half of that lifetime you could spend doing research to fill in the missing pieces.  My knowledge of the American Revolution prior to my volunteer work at Red Bank Battlefield, was meager to say the least.  Although I had grown up in Philadelphia and had been fortunate enough to work at a library during the bicentennial, I still had a spotty and disconnected idea of what had gone on.

One experience that really helped me begin to put the pieces together was a program performance enterprise into which I had invested with a friend, after we had both retired.  We called it Moments in Time and we had, to begin with, three programs that we offered, one called Red, White and Blueberries, about Clara Barton and the Red Cross, and Elizabeth White and the cultivation of the Blueberry.  Another was about the Underground Railroad in New Jersey, and the third was about the American Revolution in South Jersey.  

To understand the Revolution, my colleague and I made a large map and using a chronological approach as well as a geographical one, we figured out, more or less, what had happened.  It turned out to be surprisingly and dauntingly complicated.  In the process, I came to understand that the most famous actions, such as Bunker Hill, in New England, were really less significant than what happened in New Jersey.  I became acquainted with The Crossroads of the Revolution and astonished by the number of battles, skirmishes and significant events that had taken place in our own state.  Who knew?

During the learning period, a really fun time for me, whatever the subject, I did a lot of roaming around in South Jersey, a place neglected in a neglected state.  So many interesting and significant events took place in New Jersey, not least of which was the Battle for the Delaware River!  We had our own tea burning in Greenwich, New Jersey!

Greenwich, by the way, has a main street that is studded with historic houses and looks much the way it may have in the 18th century, sans horses and wagons and the tall masts of ships on the Cohansey River.  The Marquis de Lafayette took his first military action in Gloucester Towne, which by he way, celebrated its tricentennial when the rest of America celebrated the bicentennial.  

Anyhow, tonight, a few more pieces found their way into the giant and colorful puzzle that has been my learning about the American Revolution in South Jersey.  At the Voorhees Branch of the Camden County Library, I heard a very informative lecture on the battle at Hancock's Bridge.

Hancock's Tavern historic site is a favorite visit of mine.  I love the little village, the beautiful 18th century Friend's Meeting House, and I have often driven down to Alloways Creek to spend some time at this favorite site.  There is a re-enactment at Hancock's Tavern that is well worth the trip, and a fantastic textile expert who gives talks and demonstrations in the adjacent building.  She teaches spinning and weaving in Mount Holly at Woolbearers.  

At Hancock's, one summer, I heard a totally engaging woman present on midwifery in the 18th century.  She had a vast collection of medicinal artifacts, some harrowing, others mystifying, and knew a great deal about herbal medicine.  Another speaker there gave a talk on her upcoming doctoral thesis on a farm wife in Salem during the Revolution.  I wish I could remember her name or find whatever I wrote it on at the time.  

These memories came flooding back to me as I listened to the lecturer, at my first visit to the American Revolution Round Table, which meets monthly.  They will meet again in June at the Haddon Township Library.  I will be sure to be there and I hope you will too.  For more information, visit their new and excellent Facebook page:  American Revolution  Round Table of South Jersey.

The lecturer, very well informed and interesting was Pete Michel.  It was encouraging to see so many young people there and so many young women!  Well Done!


Things I wish we knew more about:
1.The Battle of Gloucester Towne
2.The effect of the Revolutionary War on ordinary citizens in South Jersey
3.The Hessians in South Jersey
4.The Quakers in South Jersey
5.South Jersey Women in the Revolution

Happy Trails and Good Night!
Jo Ann