FURNISHINGS PLAN for the WICK HOUSE June 1974 MAT _ _,_ -----·.... .,._ <•• aow) ........ UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT Memorandum 10/:0/73 TO DATE: ~-lLP .:!terson FROM ~ick House Furnishin~ Plan SUBJECT: Io'inally I hav~ mc.:m.:r.;;;;;..d to finish readin6 !-'!iss Cat::J.lano 's fin~ furnishing plan aft2;: on~ int~:c:cupt,~cl ·w:=alcend and s2v~ra.l 8Vanings that se3Hle<i mo:c;;; than usually frau6ht v:tith t:el..::phon..; :.;alls. Zcsan·i::i..~lly this se2ws sJ:milar ·;;o a d:::aft I r.:!u.d a y,2ar o::: so .ngo e~we·)t for SOT!lo.;;!\·J"hat :::e,~·-=J: h.s.nsinu; ·.;·•.:::.11 :-:.·c.;.~:~s and th:; sh:i..ftJ.ng of Ta1ap.:! ~ s sl~epint; ar2a. I noi:~ ·;::hai: :~a thy h.8.s s·t:at.:!d. that ·;;hz:cc:: ;j·as no st:::uc·tural evic'icnc~ fo:L a corn::;r euiGoc::r:J in l:.';)S't>Ons~ to i.ny ~d:clier que-ry on this oubj .act. She is c~u:l..te probably rish·;:, but I hav~ nagging recollections that the \iic!\. house h.:..d be.:n so altered and deteriorate~ ~h~n ~~ un~ertoo~ tha reotoration tha.t such evidenc~ rnight 't·Jell h.s.ve been lost. I hava not s-=.en th~ :r8poTts on the building itself in many y.:!ars :i..£ ever so ·i:his is just a n~ention of a possibly groundless ix1.pression. Aft2.r :ceading and thinking about this plan I have a fe'~1J gc;;ner,:;,;,l thout;;hts which I mention fo:c what they m.;;,y l>e worth. On~ is th0 t;en;;:re.l use of tha houo;;! \vhen Jt. :lair was thzre, and of ..;ou:rs8 ~vc have no documentation on this. I would hav.a expa.;;t~cl th(;! ;;en..;;ral to ta:ce over one b2cl:coo1a and th~ npa.rlo:c 11 or 1'hallu fo:c living and offi~z. I ~·;ould not really 0:ii:p!.:!ct his milit::::L·y. i'a;.-.~ily to sleep in the office. Th:.:y ri>ight hav..; useo one; of the :LOOi,lS, either p2.rlor o::c hall o:.: they might have been con­ signed ·;;o th;.; gar:cet. But I don't think the gen~ral ·.:1ould hav0 \·,;anted their personal gear strewn about h:Ls offi~e and con£e:cenc2 rom11. The:t:e s~er.J to be too many ~ating places fo:: the family. Th~ offi::ers vmuld have .aaten in onz of the rooms they occupi.eci, and I \·J"ould guess Ta-npe and. her mothe:;: raight have had to <io thei:J:: e<;;:t:ing in the kitchen. Given lGth ~en·tury ~.;usto;.-us for shar::d beds, I would think it entirely possible that T:.=rnpe and hzr r11~the:.: would have shared the sa.Lae bedroom and bad ·v.;hile the father 'tiC..S a~,;;._.y. I don 1 t kno·~v that ·we neod to specify PhilaG.elphia 'Ninciso-r chairs. Vei.:y sir,:.ilar chairs wer2 be::.ns made in New Jersey ancl. iv'iaryland ciud oth:..:i:.' pla~es in Pennsylvania. For me, at least, it is very difficult i.:o ciistingu:Lsh a Philad~lphia windsor (unsigneG.) of Buy U.S. SMing.r BtmJ.r RegJmly on the Payroll Savings Plan IJU0-101 the lesser, though still t;ood, qualities frou:; a Philadelphia pi~ce. Finally, lJith pric.;s rising as they ;;o.::e, I think th..:;! estil.nates for antiques in this :c~port are frequ..:ntly lmv. Sorr.~ are about right, but othErs a:ce half the current going pric~. Take a brass tobacco box, for instanc~. These are listed at $200.00. Host that I have s;en at shm·Js in th~ past y=.~.-;: vvith any engraving and in good condition hav; b2en priced at $300 - $L:.SO. I think that for irtliil~diat~ purchase ~ve should estihiate that th.: fur­ nishings v70uld cost about 35%-l~O% more thun listed, and if vJe \vait a couple o£ years to buy them \ive may have to double that. None of this is specific and probably not too helpful, but it represents my in~uediate reactions. The research is excep­ tionally good, and I extend my compliments to K<2thy on the fine vm:ck she has done. I apologize for th·2 condition of the report. The pins were a bit short for the thickness of th.; volu1-.1e, and it d:;.d. not take too kindly to travel in ray briefcase. I don't think I havs lost any of it so perh<lps it can be rescued tvith some longe:c clips - or broken in·;:o two parts. Harold L. Peterson -2- .. • PARTE DESCRIPTIVE LIST OF PROPOSED FURNISHINGS RESEARCH 1 COLLATION 1 AND TEXT Kathleen Catalano FLOOR PLANS 1 WALL ELEVATIONS 1 AND PERSPECTIVE RENDERINGS Karen Williamson PartE Preface Page iii PREFACE As indicated in the interpretive prospectus, the most sig- nificant period in the history of the Wick House was the winter and spring of 1779-1780, the time during which the home served as the headquarters of Major General Arthur St. Clair. It is to this period, therefore, that the building will be restored. Hopefully, the furnishings here will.· convey something of the life style of an unpretentious, Morristown farming family actively caught up in the American Revolution. With the possible exception of a desk and a Windsor arm- chair, none of the original Wick furniture has survived. Several sources, however, have combined to provide enough information for refurnishing the house as it must have appeared during our his- toric period. A partial inventory of the Wick belongings, taken in 1781, shortly after the death of Henry, Sr., supplied a record of many of the goods then in the house. Although common household articles were omitted or mentioned only generally, major pieces of furniture were enumerated. This list was supplemented by Mary Wick's inventory of 1787, the inventories of 113 Morris Part E Preface Page iv County households from 1765 to 1785, and a number of contemporary diaries and newspaper advertisements. From previous studies it was discovered that the Wicks were an average income family; that they had come to New Jersey from Suffolk County, Long Island, in 1748; that they had close ties with New England, especially Connecticut; and that their Morristown home, laid out in the central-chimney, lean-to-pattern, was built c. 1750. It was learned, also, that at the time of the 1779-1780 encampment, only two members of the Wick family were present in the house: Mary, the mother, and her daughter, Tempe, age 23. Four other Wick children, Phebe, Mary, Henry, Jr., and James all had left home sometime before the Revolution. Henry, Sr., then 72, was away serving as a volunteer in a company of Morris County cavalry, where he "did good service ••• and engaged in at least one sharp fight, though frequently detailed as guard for Gov. Livingston and the Privy Council" (Wick House His- toric Structures Report, p. 2). To this can be added the assumption that by 1779-1780 the Wick House probably contained two major types o~ furniture: older goods brought with the family from Long Island and newer articles purchased by the Wicks after their arrival in New Jersey. Such materials, together with the descriptions of military equipment supplied by Harold Peterson's The Book of the I / Part E Preface Page v Continental Soldier, comprised the major sources of information for the furnishings recommended below. The perspective renderings, floor plans, and wall eleva- tions in the following study were prepared by Karen Williamson, Visual Interpreter, Denver Service Center. Unless otherwise stated, all the proposed furnishings are to be period antiques. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PREFACE . • . • • • • • • • • . • • • . • . • • . • • . • . • • . • . • . iii Section 1. PARLOR 1 2. EAST BEDROOM 36 3. HALL 50 4. WEST BEDROOM 83 5. KITCHEN 94 6. BUTTERY 111 7. ENTRY 120 8. CELLAR 125 9. GARRET ....................................• .. i32 BIBLIOGRAPHY ..••••...•.....•••...•.•••••••••.......· .• · • 134 APPENDICES A. Will and Inventory of Henry Wick ••••••••••••.• 136 B. Will and Inventory of Mary Wick •••••••.•.....• 140 c. Inventories of Morristown Inhabitants, 1765-1785 . 14 7 e. e LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Figure Page l. "Major General Arthur St. Clair," painted by Charles Willson Peale, c. April 1780................... 4 2. "Bilsted" wood, drop-leaf dining table................. 7 3. "The Wife of Hassan Alkabbal," English print. • ll 4. Brass mounted small sword, with colichermarde blade.... 18 5. Hunting sword and scabbard. • . 19 6. Pair of brass-barrelled pistols, made in England·, by Wooley ............· . 20 7. Pair of box lock pocket pistols, English............... 21 8. Pair of doubled barrelled, box lock holster pistols, made by Parke of London. • • . • . 22 9. Mess chest belonging to George Washington.............. 23 10. Leather campaign trWlk. • . 24 11. Leather pack case...................................... 25 12. "Le General Washington ... ," line engraving by le Mire, c. 1780................................................ 30 13. Floor plan of the Wick House........................... 3la 13a. Floor plan and wall elevation of Wick House............ 31 14. Perspective rendering of Wick House Parlor............. 32 15. Ash bedstead........................................... 43 16. Leather campaign trunk. • • . 45 17. Floor plan and wall elevation of Wick House East Bedroom...... • . • • . 46 Figure Page 18. Perspective rendering of Wick House East Bedroom ...... 47 19. Bannister-back armchair, possibly by Michael Maps, West Long Branch, New Jersey .......................... 54 20. Walnut gate-leg table, Connecticut .................... 58 21. Stoneware jar made at Ringoes, New Jersey •..••.••..••.• 59 .22. Stoneware mugs made at Morgan Pottery, South Amboy, New Jersey ...................•........•..•............. 60 23. Solid fabric top guilt made by Mary Doty, Morristown •.