Tag Archives: history

Newport, RI – Part 1 – Marble House…

Posted on May 5, 2016 by mvobsession | Comments Off

As you may have guessed from the clues in the previous post ‘April Road Trip’.. our trip was to Newport, Rhode Island to visit the mansions of the Gilded Age. And gilded they were.

Mansion #1- Marble House.

According to Wikipedia : “The mansion was built as a summer “cottage” retreat between 1888 and 1892 for Alva and William Kissam Vanderbilt. It was a social landmark that helped spark the transformation of Newport from a relatively relaxed summer colony of wooden houses to the now legendary resort of opulent stone palaces. The fifty-room mansion required a staff of 36 servants, including butlers, maids, coachmen, and footmen. The mansion cost $11 million ($260,000,000 in 2009 dollars) of which $7 million was spent on 500,000 cubic feet (14,000 m³) of marble.”

The tours are audio guided which lets you progress at your own speed… also now photos are allowed with smart phones. You can use SLR’s without flash with written permission when you get there. I used my SLR digital camera as well as my smart phone. Let’s step inside now and begin the tour of Marble House…

Foyer and staircase….

Around the house..

kitchen

Alva was big in the Women’s Suffrage movement, you can find this ‘Votes for Women’ china in the gift shop.

One cannot leave Marble House without walking around the grounds and visiting the Chinese Tea House on the back lawn.

This is only a sampling of the many pictures we took. This house, escuse me ‘summer cottage’ is incredibly beautiful and interesting. To read more about it and the original owners, William Kissam Vanderbilt and his eclectic and interesting wife Alva… CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE

Coming next… the ultimate ‘summer cottage’. Can you guess which it is ?

(photographs by my daughter Deb and myself)

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Tagged decor, history, houses, mansions, museums, Newport, Newport, RI, Photographs, Rhode Island, stairs, towns

March Calendar Pictures …

Posted on March 1, 2016 by mvobsession | Comments Off

My wall calendar picture on the left was taken at the Thomas Edison National Historic Park in West Orange, New Jersey when I visited it a year ago. CLICK HERE to find out more about it.

My desk calendar picture on the right is one of the windows in the John & Priscilla homestead in Duxbury, MA. I visited there last October… CLICK HERE to find out more about it.

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Tagged ancestors, architecture, calendar pictures, history, houses, John & Priscilla Alden, Massachusetts, museums, New England, New Jersey, Photographs, Thomas Edison

Plymouth, MA – This and That …

Posted on October 29, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

Part 4 of our trip..

This is the National Monument to the Forefathers

The monument lists the names of the Mayflower Pilgrims and also on the four buttresses are seated figures emblematical of the principles upon which the Pilgrims founded their Commonwealth; Morality, Law, Education and Liberty.

According to Wikipedia : {The National Monument to the Forefathers, formerly known as the Pilgrim Monument, commemorates the Mayflower Pilgrims

CLICK HERE

And this is the Pilgrim Hall Museum ..CLICK HERE

The nation’s oldest continuously operating public museum, Pilgrim Hall Museum houses an unmatched collection of Pilgrim possessions telling the story of brave and determined men and women building lives and homes for themselves and their children in a new world. See William Bradford’s Bible, Myles Standish’s sword, the only portrait of a Pilgrim (Edward Winslow) painted from life, the cradle of New England’s first–born, Peregrine White, the great chair of William Brewster, and the earliest sampler made in America, embroidered by Myles Standish’s daughter.

The only thing we were allowed to photograph were these beautiful stained glass windows

And that…. that’s two of the most delicious, mouth watering, , heavenly New England lobster rolls… :)

This concludes part 4 of our Plymouth, MA trip.. actually it may conclude this series all together, or it may not !! Hope it’s been as enjoyable to read about as it was to have experienced it :)

(pictures are mine and Debs)

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Tagged ancestors, architecture, Family, food, history, Massachusetts, monuments, museums, New England, Photographs

Plymouth, MA – Standish and Alden …

Posted on October 23, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

Part 3 of our trip into the past to visit our ancestors .. the Myles Standish Burial Ground and the John & Priscilla Alden House.

Our first stop in the charming and historic town of Duxbury, Massachusetts was the Myles Standish Burial Ground, the oldest maintained cemetery in the United States.

It’s not a large cemetery, only 1.5 acres. It is the resting place of several of the original Mayflower Pilgrims including our ancestors, Myles Standish and John & Priscilla Alden. I felt a kind of peacefulness as I meandered around. I felt respectful and humbled, it moved me more than I anticipated.

The Myles Standish grave site

The John and Priscilla Alden grave site

Second stop in Duxbury… the Alden House Historic Site… CLICK HERE

We arrived at the house only to find out that tours had stopped at the end of September so unfortunately we weren’t going to be able to go inside the house !

We wandered around and took some pictures but of course it wasn’t like being inside.

As we were leaving we noticed two cars in front of the administration office so decided to walk over and say hello. We were SO glad we did. Not only were the two young women pleasant and smiley and full of information but… they said they’d give us a tour even though the house was closed. Golly, wow. So off we went… back into the past into the house of our ancestors John & Priscilla Alden. I don’t know what they a actually looked like but I like this painting of them. He was 21 and she 18 when they married. They had 10 children.

Our tour guide (Trish) was terrific, she peppered historical facts with humorous family stories. Why wasn’t history like this when I went to school… it was all about names and dates and not about people’s lives and adventures.

For instance the reason for wall paper and newspaper on the walls in this small closet, or as they called it, a clothes press. The walls were covered with newspaper to protect clothing from getting snagged or caught on the rough walls. Later on someone covered the newspaper with wall paper. I believe our guide said the newspapers were from the time of the War of 1812.

We did some quick gift shopping and Deb joined the AKA (Aldin Kindred of America) while we were there. We hated to leave but we alas we had to come back to the 21st century.

:) :) :)

This concludes part 3 of our trip and I thought this was going to be the last installment… but no, there’s a bit of ‘this n that’ still to come !!

(pictures are mine and Deb’s)

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Tagged ancestors, architecture, cemeteries, decor, history, houses, John & Priscilla Alden, Massachusetts, Miles Standish, New England, Photographs

Plymouth, MA – Plimouth Plantation …

Posted on October 20, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

Part 2 of our trip into the past to visit our ancestors..Plimouth Plantation…

Our visit to Plimouth Plantation was interesting and fun, I wish history had been this alive to me when I was in school eons ago :)

According to Wikipedia:

{Plimoth Plantation, founded in 1947, is a living history museum in Plymouth, Massachusetts, USA, that shows the original settlement of the Plymouth Colony established in the 17th century by English colonists, some of whom later became known as Pilgrims. They were among the first people who immigrated to America to avoid religious persecution and to seek religious separation from the Church of England.

In the 1627 English Village section of the museum, interpreters have been trained to speak, act and dress appropriately for the period. At Plimoth Plantation they are called historical interpreters, and they interact with their ‘strange visitors’ (i.e. the modern general public) in the first person, answering questions, discussing their lives and viewpoints and participating in tasks such as cooking, planting, black smithing and animal husbandry.}

Let’s begin…

Before we got to the Pilgrim settlement we stopped at the re-creation of a Wampanoag home site where modern day Native People from a variety of nations, dressed in traditional dress demonstrate how their ancestors lived and interacted with the settlers.

Onward now to the village, founded in 1947, where we see how the Pilgrims lived…

and talk with some ‘historical interpreters’…

Governor William Bradford and friend

William Brewster, Ruling Elder of the Plymouth Church

and our ancestor, Myles Standish

We sat down to rest and two ladies walked by and smiled and said we looked so happy and would we like them to take our picture… tah dah…

:) :) :)

This concludes part 2 of our trip… next up… Miles Standish burial ground and the John & Priscilla Alden House…

(pictures are mine and Deb’s)

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Tagged ancestors, architecture, Events, Family, history, houses, Massachusetts, New England, Photographs

Plymouth, MA – The Mayflower…

Posted on October 18, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

Part 1 of our trip into the past to visit our ancestors.

My daughter, Deb, our friend Dawn and I headed to Plymouth, MA to visit, and to learn more about our ancestors who came to America on the first voyage of the Mayflower, or as I like to call it, the mother ship :)

We recently learned that we are descended from Capt Myles Standish and John & Priscilla Alden. It had always been family legend that we came on that first voyage but having documented proof made it finally seem real. I had a teacher once who told me I was wrong, that everyone who had relatives or ancestors in New England claimed they came on the Mayflower and that they actually didn’t. Talk about squelching a dream. So I put the information in the back of my mind and now, many many years later it turns out my mother’s legend was right. The girls and I did so much in our 3 days away that I’m going to break it down into a few posts rather than try to get it all into one very, very, very long post… you’ll thank me for this later :) So… let’s begin…. welcome a aboard the Mayflower II

We all know that the Mayflower landed in Plymouth in 1620 and that there had originally been 201 Pilgrims on board. But something I didn’t know is where the Mayflower II replica came from ! According to Wikipedia in 1954 Warwick Charlton from England conceived the idea to construct a reproduction of the Mayflower to commemorate the wartime cooperation between the United Kingdom and uth USA as a symbol of Anglo-American friendship….

To read more of this article CLICK HERE please

Let’s start our tour…

Going below deck we met some of the crew members who told us many stories of the voyage of the Mayflower… 102 passengers and a crew of 25-30 began the journey, only 51 survived it. Two babies were born, Oceanus Hopkins while at sea and Peregrine White (our ancestor) when the ship was anchored in Cape Cod Harbor.

It’s hard to imagine life on board the Mayflower II no matter how vivid an imagination I have. The cramped quarters, the noise and smells, the sickness, the lack of privacy. But they made it and there were still more Pilgrims to come in future voyages. I feel kind of empowered knowing somewhere deep inside of me I might have that kind of fortitude.

If you’re interested in knowing more about life on board, the history of the ship itself and about the voyage… CLICK HERE to read about the Mayflower…

The Mayflower Compact... signed by Myles Standish, John Alden, and Deb and me :)

You can’t visit the Mayflower without visiting Plymouth Rock as well….

This concludes part 1 of our trip… next up… Plimouth Plantation.

(pictures are mine and Deb’s)

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Tagged ancestors, architecture, boats, Family, history, Massachusetts, Memories, New England, Photographs, Plymouth Rock, the Mayflower, travel

September 11th …

Posted on September 11, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

The Essex County 9/11 Memorial at Eagle Rock Reservation

West Orange, New Jersey

This memorial, over looking the New York skyline is dedicated to the victims of 9/11.

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Tagged anniversaries, history, New Jersey, New York, Photographs, remembrance, statues

Trinity Circle, Trinity Park and Bells …

Posted on June 30, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

In the town of Oak Bluffs on Martha’s Vineyard, in the Methodist Campground are Trinity Circle and Trinity Park.

Sharing Trinity Park for almost 140 years are the Tabernacle (erected in 1879) and Trinity Methodist Church (built in 1878).

Over the years both have undergone changes. This is just one of the changes for the Tabernacle.

A major transformation for Trinity Methodist Church

A look inside the Tabernacle and Trinity Methodist Church

Tabernacle from inside Trinity Methodist Church… I love this picture.

Trinity Park is a perfect place to enjoy some quiet time… to indulge in some contemplation, read, maybe snooze, enjoy a game of catch, or wander around with a camera.

According to the Martha’s Vineyard Camp Meeting Assn. website:

“The original layout of Wesleyan Grove was a simple formation of a circle enclosing the preaching area and the society or church tents. In 1859 a road, now known as Trinity Circle, was built which encircled that area. In 1864, the Association purchased the 26 acres it had been renting. As the area continued to expand (additional grounds were purchased in 1866), it developed in a radial-concentric pattern which was little used in America at that time. Paths radiating from Trinity Circle led to smaller circles where large groups of tents had been located – County Park (Wesleyan Grove), Forest Circle, Washington Park (Victorian Park), Cottage Park Avenue (Cottage Park), Crystal Park (Vincent Park), Washington Avenue (Butler Avenue), Rural Circle and Clinton Avenue, which, at one time, had been the main entrance to the Campground. The smaller circles, some surrounded by larger circles, had small paths radiating from them leading to other circles or parks. The method of the grounds layout was an additive one of discrete neighborhood units, each built around small various shaped parks. Some street and park names (current names are in the brackets) have been changed for various reasons over the years”.

I spent my childhood summers on Martha’s Vineyard and many of those summers I spent my mornings at Bible School in the Tabernacle. As was the custom a girl and a boy would be chosen each morning to walk from the Tabernacle to Trinity Church and ring the 8 o’clock bell. I waited almost all summer to hear my name called, I didn’t think it was ever going to happen. Finally it did and off across the lawn my partner and I scampered.

Inside the vestibule tied to the staircase railing was the thickest rope I’d ever seen. The rope was attached to the bell way, way, way up in the steeple and the longer we stood there and pondered the situation the higher up the bell seemed to get.

First though we had to untie the rope, it did not go well, we fumbled along and finally the rope was free from the railing. Time was ticking but neither of us were aware of how close to 8 o’clock we were coming.

Now all we had to do was pull the rope and the bell would ring and … well, that did not go well either. Neither one of us had enough weight to pull the rope hard enough to ring the bell. Rope burn was the least of our problems though as now we were sure it was after 8 o’clock and we’d failed our mission. With what strength we had left we both grabbed the rope, stood on one of the steps and jumped. Just as our teacher walked in the door to see what the problem was we heard… bong, bong, bong… it was ringing, the bell was peeling loud and strong, we had succeeded… we had only missed the 8 o’clock bell by… oh 10 or so minutes. Who would notice!

When I got home at lunch time the first thing my mother said was “the 8 o’clock bell was a bit late this morning, do you know who was ringing it this morning?” I said it had been me… she shook her head slowly and said nothing but I did notice a little smile. By the way, I was never asked to ring the bell again.

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Tagged architecture, churches, history, Martha's Vineyard, Oak Bluffs, parks, Photographs, Tabernacle

Memorial Day 2015 …

Posted on May 23, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

Memorial Day was borne out of the Civil War and a desire to honor our dead. It was officially proclaimed on 5 May 1868 by General John Logan, national commander of the Grand Army of the Republic. “The 30th of May, 1868, is designated for the purpose of strewing with flowers, or otherwise decorating the graves of comrades who died in defense of their country during the late rebellion, and whose bodies now lie in almost every city, village and hamlet churchyard in the land,” he proclaimed. The date of Decoration Day, as he called it, was chosen because it wasn’t the anniversary of any particular battle.

The Civil War Monument in Morristown, New Jersey was dedicated in 1871 to the soldiers and sailors of the Civil War.

Take a moment to remember the original reason for Memorial Day and the men and women who gave their lives for our country.

Have a great Memorial Day and enjoy the weekend whatever you’re doing.

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Tagged beach, flag, history, holidays, monuments, New Jersey, ocean, Photographs, statues

President’s Day …

Posted on February 15, 2015 by mvobsession | Comments Off

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

My creation 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

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Tagged architecture, history, holidays, New Jersey, Photographs

Tag Archives: history

Newport, RI – Part 1 – Marble House…

March Calendar Pictures …

Plymouth, MA – This and That …

Plymouth, MA – Standish and Alden …

Plymouth, MA – Plimouth Plantation …

Plymouth, MA – The Mayflower…

September 11th …

Trinity Circle, Trinity Park and Bells …

Memorial Day 2015 …

President’s Day …

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