Road To Monmouth History Workshop

January 19, 2002

Wetherill House (South Brunswick Township)

Georges Road, south of Dayton, NJ

9:30 AM to 2:30 PM O'Clock in two sessions (9:30 - Noon and 12:30 - 2:30)

Purpose:

    This is a workshop for sharing information on the route of the Continental Army as it raced across New Jersey during the heat wave of June, 1778. The goal is to gather in one place the facts, rumors and mysteries associated with the prelude to the Battle of Monmouth Court House.
    The reasons for this workshop are many, but it is in support of the 225th Anniversary celebration of the battle, and of New Jersey history celebration in general. It is simply an informal workshop, not sponsored by any official body.
    This workshop will deal with the main army column only. Though others may want to follow Lafayette, Morgan and Dickinson's routes or the British routes, we will leave that for another day (we had to start somewhere!)

Outline:

The Workshop will have two sessions. The morning concentrating on history and research, and the afternoon concentrating on celebration and remembrance.
I hope we will cover the following topics in the morning session:

Colonial Era roads used by the main force. (Generals Washington and Charles Lee)
Understanding of the timing of the march, including encampment sites and the role of topography on the progress of the army.
Interesting places and facts about the route.
Surviving historic resources on the route.

I hope that we will cover the following topics in the afternoon session:

Ideas and plans for commemorating the 225th anniversary of the campaign.
Ideas and plans for marking the route, and explaining the history to the casual motorist or pedestrian
Ideas and plans for heritage tourism for the route.

Note that this is a workshop, not a committee meeting. We have no power other than suggestion and sharing, and decisions will be made elsewhere. I'll moderate, but we all share responsibility to stay on topic.

Who should attend:

The morning session is for those who have done historical research, have historical data to share (including questionable data) or are especially interested in the current state of knowledge of the topics listed above. It is a workshop, and all are expected to participate. It is my hope that someone from each of the eleven municipalities (whether official or unofficial) attends. Historical Commission members, Historical Society officers or honest-to-goodness historians are most welcome!

Findings of the workshop (including areas for future research) will be made available, and will be summarized at lunch.

The afternoon session is for those who can help with any of the afternoon topics, have creative ideas in these areas or have the authority to make things happen. I hope our informal discussions provide for development of new ideas, and refinement of ideas already put forward. Those attending the afternoon session are encouraged to be present at the lunchtime summary. There will be no formal product of the afternoon session, but I hope groups will determine to work together on various projects.

A list of attendees will be made available (so please pre-register with your contact information).

Preparation:

Historians should review Robert Craig's article in New Jersey History, (Spring/Summer 2001) Vol 119, Numbers 1-2, entitled "In Search of Robins Tavern: A Long-Vanished Landmark on the Road to the Battle of Monmouth", which describes the historical research method used to find a site on the British march route (and Lafayette's route too).

You may also want to surf thorough my website http:www.nerc.com/~charlied to get an idea of what I know.

If you have data to share, you may do some combination of these:

Make 20 copies of it, or
Make 20 copies of a summary or abstract, with a web address for the full document.
Bring a poster-board showing the information (bring an easel too, if you have one), and 20 copies of a summary of the information with your name and contact information.

Please don't bring a spoken story without something written down. Please don't expect me to copy your stuff, I've got enough to do, thanks. (There are copy centers in Princeton, Hightstown, and maybe a copy machine at the Dayton Wawa). On the other hand, this isn't a science fair! Feel free to use brown corrugated cardboard and crayons on a AAA map, if that gets the point across.

Registration

    Please send me an e-mail ( mailto:charlied@nerc.com ) or call me at 609-924-7375 to tell me that you are coming. Include your e-mail, phone number and address, so I can make a list of attendees for distribution. If you are preparing a poster or handout, describe it briefly. If you can help me get ready on Friday evening or Saturday morning, indicate that too. Please register by Thursday the 17th, though earlier is better. You can change your mind, just call or e-mail!
    The workshop costs will be covered by a money jar. The only real expenses are food and easel paper. Please expect to throw a buck or two into the jar, and receive lunch, coffee, etc.
    If it is snowing heavily, call my number to see if things are canceled. Please drive carefully!

Directions

    The Wetherill House is in eastern South Brunswick Township, south of the Dayton crossroads, on Georges Road. It is just south of the (Conrail) Railroad line, on the west side. It's not a very big place, but I'm not expecting more than 20 people! Carpooling is encouraged.
    From Cranbury or Monroe (Prospect Plains): Take US 130 North to the center-lane left turn onto Georges Road (Dayton), go north looking for Wetherill before the railroad tracks.
    From 522 in Jamesburg, go west past Route 130 at the Ridge Road interchange, stay west on Ridge Road (don't go on the new 522) and go west to Dayton, then follow the instructions below. You will be turning sharp left at the five points.
    From Kingston or west: Go to 'downtown Kingston', three miles north of Princeton on Route 27 (where Good Time Charley's is). Turn east onto Heathcote Brook Road (the continuation of Laurel Avenue/ Route 603), and go down the hill. Continue on Ridge Road (straight ahead) across US 1 to Monmouth Junction. Follow the twisting Ridge Road, turning right (east) onto Route 522 at the new fire station, over the Amtrak main line and past the South Brunswick Municipal Building. At the next light (Kingston Lane), turn right, staying on Ridge Road, to Dayton. You will be turning somewhat right at five points.
    At the Dayton traffic light ('five points'), turn south onto Georges Road, go several blocks until you cross the railroad tracks, then turn right at the Wetherill House (Township sign).
    If you get lost, find US Route 130, County Route 522 and Georges Road (or Old Georges Road). You want Georges Road south of Dayton. Look for the new development road "Wetherhill Way". (I think that's how they spell it).

Map of Dayton, NJ

Who am I?

     I'm Charlie Dieterich, of Kingston, NJ. Two Junes ago I convinced folks to put out signs using Garry Stone's map as the "Road To Monmouth Battlefield Project". This past year we put them out again, though I didn't do nearly as good a job coordinating things. I'm president of the Kingston Greenways Association, though that organization is only peripherally involved, and a member of the Kingston Historical Society, which helped with the signs, and the Kingston Volunteer Fire Company, and former co-chair of 'Kingston1999'.
    I saw that there was interesting history in the march to Monmouth, but felt challenged by the 11 municipalities and 5 counties. I believe New Jersey's history is often overlooked due to regionalism, and take it as a personal challenge to fix that.
    I'm trained as an electrical engineer, and work at Sarnoff Corporation. I have no pretensions of expertise, but enjoy listening to those who actually know this stuff.

And thank yous to:

    Ceil Leedom, South Brunswick Twp Historian.
    South Brunswick, Tom Morris and Pat Pappenberg for use of Wetherill.
    Garry Stone, Rich Walling, and Bob Craig for advice!

map added 1/4/02
http://www.nerc.com/~charlied/workshop.html