Thoughts on Historic CONTEXT Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park, NJ

I think, often with a site like the James and Anne Whitall House, Red Bank Battlefield, National Park,NJ, it is easy to get narrowly confined within the borders of the main even the Battle that took place on October 22, 1777. Although the drama and the import of that event is the center of the location, there is so much more to learn about the people and the world surrounding that event. James and Ann Whitall were Quakers from a large, successful and old time clan of Quakers in the South Jersey area. Ann was related to the Cooper family, founders of Camden, and by the way if you haven't visited Pomona Hall at the Camden County Historical Society, you should!

Anyhow my point for this blog entry is simply that when you have exhausted the details of the Battle of Red Bank, it might be time to dig wider rather than deeper, and explore the history of the Quakers in South Jersey, shipping trade on the Delaware Rive (James Whitall was heavily invested in it), indentured servitude in Colonial New Jersey, the Whitall family employed several indentured servants, one of whom, Margaret Heaney, ran away and James Whitall put out a warrant for her capture.

In general the Quaker community was opposed to slavery but the attitudes of the Quakers is an interesting area to delve into as well. For exampe, one of the Coopers, Marmaduke Cooper, refused to free his enslaved workers edespite much attempt at persuasion by his Quaker meeting, and he neded up being cast out.

The local community wouuld also be an interesting subject to explore, the Woodbury connection, for example, one of Ann's male relatives (her brother?) had a home in Woodbury near the Meeting House, which wa confiscated by the British and used as a headquarters util their retreat. His house is beside the Goucester County Historical Society Museum and Library, another plae worth a visit. Houseed in the Library, behind the Museum, is the framed family tree upon which Ann Whitall appears. <[?> Needless to say, (or is it?) the presence of Native Americans, the indigenous inhabitants before Europeans came and staked a claim on the land, is also a worthy area for exploration. Some artifacts are on display in the new glass cases at the Whitall HOuse.

I just visited last Sunday became I am going to return as a volunteer beginning this week on Saturday or Sunday and I was amazed at how things have changed at Whitall House. I was a volunteer there for many years beginning in the Megan Giordano period. She was a remarkable young woman who died far far too young of Lupus. She was devoted to the Whitall House and the period of the Battle and she was both brilliant and knowledgeable. She was also remarkably inventive in ways to inspire and broaden the knowledge of volunteers. She brought us speakers on Colonial dress and fabrics, spinning and weaving, bee keeping, medicines, maternity, and at the time of her passing, she had been working on a cooperative venture with the town of Woodbury to explore, deepen, and emphasize the connections between the town and the Battlefield.

All that aside, if you haven't been there recently, there couldn't be a more inviting time to stop by. The park is green and flourishing, the house is open for tours (you can explore on your own or have a tour) Thursday through Sunday. There is such a rich variety of historic places to visit in our neck of the woods!

Happy Trails! Jo Ann wrightj45@yahoo.com