Sunday, April 28 – Morris County
Curator’s Tour at Macculloch Hall
Sunday, April 28, 2:00 pm
Join guest curator Alfred Giraldi for a guided tour of Anchors Aweigh: Macculloch Hall and U.S. Naval History. FREE with museum admission and for members.
Anchors Aweigh: Macculloch Hall and U.S. Naval History, through mid-July 2019
Includes children’s exhibition, Don’t Give Up the Ship!
The Navy has played a significant role in the Macculloch family’s history. A grandson of George and Louisa Macculloch, Henry William Miller (1836-1904), a graduate of the Naval Academy at Annapolis in 1853, served on the USS Mohican at the battle of Port Royal and participated in the blockade of Charleston, South Carolina during the Civil War. He resigned from the Navy in 1866 with the rank of lieutenant commander.
Henry’s younger brother, Jacob William Miller (1847-1918), graduated from the Naval Academy in 1867. As a lieutenant, he was sent to Nicaragua to explore a possible canal route, and in 1877 he served on the USS Vandalia where he was assigned to escort President Grant and his wife on their tour of the Mediterranean. He later helped found the New York State Naval Reserve and became its commodore.
After purchasing Macculloch Hall in 1949, W. Parsons Todd (1877-1976) added many items related to the Navy to its collection. This interest may have sparked by the memory of his uncle, Henry Davis Todd (1838-1907), who graduated the Naval Academy with Henry William Miller and served with him on the USS Minnesota during its cruise to China.
This naval tradition is part of Morristown’s history. In a speech given by Jacob William Miller at Macculloch Hall for the first meeting of the Admiral Radford Section of the Navy League in 1906, he declared that “if a circle of less than one mile were described around the place we are now sitting, it would embrace the homes, or former residences, of over 40 naval officers who have lived among us.”
