Tag Archives: holidays

In honor of President’s Day I’m re-posting about President George Washington.

General George Washington slept here …

He arrived at Ford Mansion in Morristown, NJ in Dec of 1779 and stayed until June of 1780. His troops of 10,000 men were encamped at nearby Jockey Hollow during the harshest winter of the war.

Morristown, New Jersey

Description of the mansion from Wikipedia:

‘The Ford Mansion has a Georgian style exterior, but the interior kitchen and framing shows evidence of Dutch influence. The mansion was made with palladian window above the door and a stylish cornice. The fancy architecture was not created to look appealing, but to showcase the wealth of the family who owned the building.’

Built between 1772 and 1774 it was the home of Jacob and Theodosia Ford.  The following description is from Wikipeida:

‘The headmaster’s section of the house was built with symmetrical rooms on both side of the foyer. The office is across from the library and the parlor is across from the dining room. On the second floor there are symmetrical bedrooms for each side of the hallway. The servant’s section of the house was near the kitchen  and the pantry  on the east side. The grand hall and the parlor are what categorized the house as a mansion. Unlike most mansions at the time, the Ford Mansion did not use bricks for the exterior, but painted flush board and clapboards.’

Front door of main part of house

Door to servant’s quarter

Fireplace and back of house

Across the road is this statue of George Washington by Frederick Roth (1927-28)

It’s fun to play tourist in and around where you live.   Morristown in particular is rich in American Revolutionary War history and Morris County is known as  The Military Capital of the American Revolution.

LINKS:

Ford Mansion – Wikipedia

Revolutionary War New Jersey

Washington’s Headquarters – National Park Traveler