Monmouth County - Freehold - March 2019 Thistle

Sunday, March 31, 2019

Volume 3, Issue 3


Lt. James Costello (1920 - 194) Photographic Print Monmouth County Historical Association, Library and Archives Collection

120th Anniversary Series

1938 - 1948

The War Years and The End of an Era

While the fifth decade of the Association's existence began quietly, the coming years would see a second World War, the death of the museum's most devoted supporter, the loss of its first director, and the post-war challenge of gathering new members and reinventing its relevancy to the community and to the region.

Mrs. Haskell continued to be a driving force within the Association, attending every Board meeting and adding to the collections with donations of everything from important pieces of furniture, paintings, and decorative arts to interesting and quirky items. She funded everyday necessities for the Association, from newspaper notices advertising the museum's new 10 cent admission fee to coal to heat the building in the winter months.


	"I'm Counting On You" War Poster Leon Helguera, artist circa 1943 Monmouth County Historical Association, Library and Archives Collection

The summer drifted by in the brick building under the tulip poplar trees, with board meetings featuring talks on silver spoons and old prints. The first mention of war appeared in the Board Minutes on September 25, 1941, when speaker Joy Homer, author of Dawn Watch In China, presented a talk about her 14 months in China as a reporter for the United American Relief Board. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor in the morning hours of December 8, 1941, brought the war to American shores. In the first months of 1942, the Trustees authorized the purchase of $1,000 Defense Bond with money from the Endowment Fund. A War Risk Insurance policy on the museum building was secured, with Mrs. Haskell paying the premium costs.

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	Board members Charles Vanderveer and Lillian Boschen pose in a publicity photograph for the 1952 Fair. A popular and successful fundraiser for the Historical Association through most of the 1950s, the Fair featured an antiques show and sale among a number of crowd-pleasing draws.

120th Anniversary Series

1948 - 1958

Growth and Change: The Postwar Years

The Monmouth County Historical Association celebrated its fiftieth year of existence with a gala afternoon event in October of 1948. The coming decade would bring changes to both postwar America and to the Association itself. The museum would acquire a second historic house, focus on community programs and exhibitions, and welcome some of the finest objects and artifacts into its collections.

On January 14, 1949, the board meeting met at a hurriedly-arranged gathering. Shrewsbury resident Mrs. Nellie R. Holmes had died, and trustees learned that she had willed the Allen House, a well-known eighteenth century structure on the corner of Shrewsbury Avenue and Route 35, to the Association. The will gave life rights to Lillie Huelson, a close family friend of Nellie Holmes. The Board meeting minutes noted that "In the event that Mrs. Huelson does not wish to occupy the building, it reverts to the Historical Association to retain and maintain..." By early February, the Association learned that Mrs. Huelson planned to live in the house for the time being, but the fact that the organization would one day have two historic structures to care for was both exhilarating and sobering.


The Allen House, located on the corner of Shrewsbury Avenue and Broad Street in Shrewsbury. The structure, which dates to circa 1710_ was owned and operated as a tavern from 1754 to 1781 by Josiah Halstead.

The Allen House was not the only historic site offered to the Association. Early in 1949, a small structure believed to have been Phillip Freneau's print shop offered to the Association. Philip Freneau was born in 1752 in New York City and was raised in Matawan, Monmouth County, New Jersey. Known as the "Poet of the American Revolution," Freneau was shaped by his experiences as a ship's captain, New Jersey militia member, and a prisoner of war on a British prison ship. He published the newspaper The National Gazette and was close to such celebrated figures as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Freneau died at the age of eighty, frozen to death while walking home. Research revealed that the building was not Freneau's 18th century print shop but a much later building, apparently dating to the 1840s. The Association did not pursue the purchase.

If you would like to learn more about your company's matching gift program or leaving MCHA a gift in your will please contact us directly at 732-462-1466 or email dwilson@monmouthhistory.org