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Morristown is a Town in Morris County, New Jersey, United States. As of the United States 2000 Census, the town population was 18,544. Its estimated population in 2004 was 18,842. It is the county seat of Morris County. Morristown is not to be confused with Moorestown, a township further south in New Jersey, in the Philadelphia metropolitan area.

History

18th Century

Morristown was settled around 1715 by English Presbyterians from Southold, New York on Long Island and New Haven, Connecticut as the village of New Hanover. The town became the seat of the new Morris County shortly after its separation from Hunterdon County on March 15, 1739. The village and county were named for Lewis Morris, the first and then sitting royal governor of a united colony of New Jersey.

By the mid-century the 250 people shared the village with two churches, a courthouse, two taverns, two schools, several stores, and numerous mills nearby.

George Washington and the Continental Army were encamped near Morristown from January to May 1777. Washington had his headquarters during that first encampment at Jacob Arnold's Tavern located at the Morristown Green. The churches were used for inoculations for smallpox. (That Headquarters, Arnold's Tavern, was eventually moved 1/2 mile south of the green to become All Souls Hospital in the late 1800's. It suffered a fire in 1918, and was demolished). Whatever happened to Washington's 1777 HQ in Morristown?, accessed May 7, 2006

During the second encampment from December 1779 to June 1780 at Jockey Hollow. Washington's second headquarters, here, was located at the Ford Mansion, a large mansion near what was then the 'edge of town.' Ford's widow and children shared the space with Martha and officers of the Continental Army.

The winter of 1780 was the worst winter of the Revolutionary War. The starvation was complicated by extreme inflation of money and lack of pay for the army. During Washington's second stay, in March 1780, he declared St. Patrick's Day a holiday to honor his many Irish troops.The "Hard" Winter of 1779—80, accessed March 17, 2006

Martha Washington traveled from Virginia and was present with George each winter throuout the war.

The Marquis de Lafayette brought news here in 1780 of aid from France.

The Ford Mansion, Jockey Hollow, and Fort Nonsense are all preserved as part of Morristown National Historical Park managed by the National Park Service.

During Washington's stay, Benedict Arnold was court-martialed at Dickenson's Tavern on Spring Street in Morristown, not for treason, but on lesser charges related to profiteering from military supplies at Philadelphia. His admonishment was made public, but Washington quietly promised the hero, Arnold, to make it up to him. He was later given control of West Point, New York, which he almost succeeded in giving to the British.

Alexander Hamilton courted and wed Betsy Schuyler at the residence used by Washington's personal physician. The home on Olyphant Place is owned and operated by the Daughters of the American Revolution as the Schuyler-Hamilton House.

19th Century

The Marquis de Lafayette returned to Morristown in July 1825 on his return tour of the United States, where a ball was held in his honor at the 1807 Sansay House on DeHart Street, which still stands.

Antoine le Blanc, a French immigrant laborer murdered the Sayre family and their servant (or possibly slave) Phoebe. He was tried and convicted of murder of the Sayres (but not Phoebe) on August 13, 1833. On September 6, 1833, Le Blanc became the last person hanged on the Morristown Green. The house where the murders were committed is today known as Jimmy's Haunt which is purported to be haunted by Phoebe's ghost since her murder never saw justice.

Samuel Morse and Alfred Vail built the first telegraph at the Speedwell Iron Works on January 6, 1838. The first telegraph message was "A patient waiter is no loser." The first public demonstration occurred eleven days later as the first step towards the information age we enjoy today.

Jacob Arnold's Tavern was purchased by the Colles family to save it from demolition in 1886. It was moved by horse-power in the winter of 1887 from "the green" (after being stuck on Bank street for about six weeks) to a site 1/2 mile south on Mount Kemble Avenue at what is now a parking lot for the Atlantic RIMM Rehabilitation Hospital. It became a boarding house for four years until it was converted by the Grey Nuns from Montreal into the first All Souls Hospital. George and Martha's 2nd floor ballroom became a chapel and the first floor tavern became a ward for patients. The building was lost to a fire in 1918. The organization, nurses, doctors and patients of All Souls Hospital were then moved across Mt. Kemble Avenue (U.S. Route 202) to the newly-built brick hospital building.

Historic images

 

This article is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the "Morristown, New Jersey".

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