Fosterfields Living History Farm

We split our visit to Fosterfields into two parts -- the morning and the afternoon. In-between we went to Historic Speedwell for their program. This seemed fitting as there are two parts to the site. I'll call them the "hands-on" and "hands-off" sections.

In the morning we visited the old farmhouse where Mr.and Mrs. Woods, the farm manager and his wife lived. Allison, the docent, patiently explained how chores were done back at the turn of the century --1880-1910, that is. When we showed up she had just finished explaining to a group of pre-school aged friends how to clean the saddles and tack after riding. She showed them how the entire stable was kept organized and clean so Caroline Foster (the daughter living in the big house) could go for a ride at any time.

She taught us about churning butter using a gadget I had never seen before. Just last week Ashley made butter by shaking it in a baby food jar, so the lessons were still fresh in her mind. Then it was time to do the laundry. The little kids were still outside playing in the water and having a blast on that 90+ degree day.

At scheduled times the regular farm chores are done -- collecting eggs, feeding the chickens and milking the cows. We were only able to see milking the cow. The farmhand gave us a full lesson about cow milking and explained it with patience as if we were the first suburbanites he ever talked to about the subject. We also learned where oxen come from. I'll give you a hint, there are not female oxen, hence no mommy oxen.

After a trip to Historic Speedwell, we returned to Fosterfields for the 2:30 tour of the mansion. The inside is just as impressive as the exterior. The house was built in 1854 by General Joseph Warren Revere, the grandson of Paul Revere. Though the farm had been in existence since 1760, the Reveres turned it into an estate farm, a tradition continued by Charles Foster.

Charles moved into the house in 1881 with his 4 year old daughter, Caroline. His wife and sons had died and he wanted her to live in the country. She lived in the house until she died in 1979 at the age of 102. In 1974, she donated the property to the Morris County Park Commission to be preserved as a "living historical farm."

The mansion is stunning. Unfortunately they do not allow pictures to be taken inside of it. We saw some gadgets that were new to us -- a glove stretcher, a skirt lifter, and a more modern way to separate the cream from the milk. The latter the docent referred to as "the microwave of its time," because it made a 24-hour job take only 20 minutes.

Ashley's favorite part was the temporary exhibit on handwriting and how you can tell a lot about a person from their penmanship. Don't be surprised if she wants to analyze your handwriting and tell your deep dark secrets. Oddly enough the exhibit was called "Letters to Emma." It started out with "when was the last time you wrote a letter by hand..."coincidentally enough just that morning she wrote a letter (by hand) to her friend, Emma. It made her feel closer to her friend.

http://www.morrisparks.net/aspparks/ffmain.asp