The Historic Happenings Blog of the Township of Ocean Historical Museum relates events being conducted by historical organizations within the State of New Jersey.
Monmouth County - Freehold - Currently at MCHA - A Family Reunited: The Conover Portraits and Polite and Useful Education: Pictorial Needlework Embroidery
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CURRENTLY AT THE MONMOUTH COUNTY HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION MUSEUM A Family Reunited: The Conover Portraits
Caption: Portrait of William I. Conover (1836 – 1902) by George Henry Durrie. Gift of Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, 1939.
MCHA will open a special new exhibit on 2 November entitled “A Family Reunited: The Conover Portraits.” Seven portraits of Tunis V. Conover of Marlboro, his wife Rebecca Crawford Conover, and their three children Hendrick S., Anne B., and William I. Conover, were painted between 1819 and 1855 by three artists who worked in Monmouth County during those years. They were Micah Williams from New Brunswick, George Henry Durrie from Connecticut, and Harvey Jenkins, a local portrait painter. Five of the likenesses commissioned in 1842 from Durrie depict the entire family. Rebecca sat for her first portrait in pastel by Micah Williams in 1819 at age seven. Durrie captured her at age thirty. Then Harvey Jenkins created a third portrait of Rebecca about 1855 at roughly forty-five years of age.
Rebecca Crawford Conover (1812 – 1897), by Harvey Jenkins. Gift of Alan Baird, 2016.
It is highly unusual to be able to compare three portraits of a single individual at different stages of life, and as depicted by three talented artists, each with their individual vision and techniques. This remarkable collection of portraits has not been seen together since 1902, when it was divided among the two daughters of William I. Conover. The exhibit has been augmented with a nineteenth century oil on canvas painting of the Conover family residence in Marlboro that features two hunting dogs, and an exquisite pictorial sampler worked by Rebecca as a young girl. Items on display have come from the Association’s permanent collection, from two private collections, as well as from Conover family descendants.
The museum of the Monmouth County Historical Association is located at 70 Court Street in Freehold. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 am to 4 pm. The exhibit will remain on view through January 2019.
Chris Brune: 1890s in Music, Story & Poetry Lecture: The 1890's in Music, Story, and Poetry Join us on Wednesday, November 14th as we continue celebrating the Strauss Mansion's 125th anniversary year. Storyteller and performer, Chris Brune shares stories, songs and information in the style popular in the 1890's. Brune will be playing music in various styles and instruments and giving recitations and readings of classic American literature. Admission is free to all. Refreshments served. Strauss Mansion Museum 27 Prospect Circle Atlantic Highlands, NJ, 07716 Email: ahhistoricalinfo@gmail.com Phone: 732 291 1861
Thursday, February 27 – Mercer County Princeton Preservation Group to Meet on February 27 about Papyrus Ask anyone on the street in Princeton what the Princeton Preservation Group is and you are likely to get a raised eyebrow and a guess that they are people who want to preserve the town. Actually, the Princeton Preservation Group (PPG) has been meeting several times per year since 1983 to hear lectures on a wide range of topics relating to the preservation of cultural artifacts, including books, manuscripts, artwork, furniture, photographs, tombstones, Lucy the Elephant, quilts, costumes, videotapes, and buildings, just to name a few. The “Princeton” in PPG’s name derives from its founder, the late Susan Swartzburg, Preservation Librarian at Alexander Library at Rutgers. Swartzburg, a Princeton resident, taught a class in the Rutgers graduate librar...
Sunday, June 9 – Somerset County Save the Date for a visit with an 18th-Century Surgeon-Dentist Let us be clear: George Washington did not have wooden teeth. However, he did have dental problems through most of his adult life, as did many 18th-century folk of both high and low social class. There were no regular visits to dentists, with tooth brushing and flossing in between at that time. There weren't even dentists as we know them today. Dentistry was only just evolving as a separate profession through the eighteenth century. Barber-surgeons or surgeon-dentists provided many more services than our modern dentists. Toothbrushes were somewhat new, but rare for most people to use or even own. Germs were an unknown entity. On Sunday, June 9 at Rockingham, Marjory Wienkop will be in residence in the Dutch barn with a display of colonial-era surgeon-dentist instruments, related objects and much information on the real story of who took...
