Shippen Manor News

Shippen Manor

2 weeks ago

Greetings, friends.

We have some info to share with you that will help with enjoying our site in November.

REGULAR TOUR SUNDAY (11/1).

Sun., Nov. 1 (1-4pm) is our last regular tour day of the season!
We will have artifacts and displays that celebrate veterans that will be up for both museum days in November. (See ADA offerings below.) On-site parking is limited. There is available parking in town (see below).

HISTORY TRAIL SUNDAY (11/8).

Sun., Nov. 8 (10am-4pm) is our Warren History Trail Sunday and our Revolutionary War Day with the 2nd New Jersey Regiment, Helms’ Company. Black powder firing demonstrations between 12 and 4pm. Other 2nd NJ programming will be posted as we get closer to that event. There will be something for everyone!

PARKING ON & OFF-SITE.

Please bear in mind that our on-site parking on Nov. 8th will be very limited.

-- The small Belvidere Ave. lot will have two designated handicap parking spaces designated closest to the boardwalk. The h/c parking will be spaced appropriately, but please bear in mind that drivers must exercise caution when backing out of these spaces.

-- There is no official shoulder on Belvidere Ave. and the side of the road cannot accommodate vehicles. Just uphill from our entrance is a drainage ditch that has tall grasses in it. This is not on our property, but we want to make sure you are parking in safe locations.

-- Parking is available on Washington Ave. and Kent Street parking across from the

-- Please do not park where there are "no parking" signs. The driveway and back parking are closed because we will have visitors, interpreters, volunteers and staff moving around.

-- Please do not block upper or lower drives. There will be cones at the lower and a parks barricade at the upper. Visitors can still access the site on foot.

-- There is a map of parking in Oxford center on our website (please keep in mind that signs might have changed that restrict parking in certain areas): www.warrencountynjheritage.com/history/shippen-manor-programming

MUSEUM & COUNTY RULES.

-- Food and drink are not permitted in the building.

-- Wet umbrellas must be left outside. We will provide buckets for convenience. The museum does not assume responsibility for any "lost" umbrellas.

-- Photography, videography and audio recording are not permitted inside of the building as per the County Resolution #247-22.

OXFORD FURNACE.

The colonial-era Oxford Furnace is viewable outside of the chain link fence for our visitors.

-- Please exercise caution when walking on the grass at the furnace as the ground is not even and there may be small holes from critters.
-- The furnace is viewable to the public on three sides (east, south and west).
-- The outside of the north fence is on church property, please do not trespass. Also, west of our furnace is privately owned.
-- The interpretative sign has a QR code that will take visitors to our website (Warren200.com). There you will find a more detailed history of the furnace and Shippen Manor, in addition to other information pertaining to history and the arts.
-- The grass is not suitable for individuals with mobility issues such as those using walkers or wheelchairs or sight limitations (without a person with them). The furnace is viewable from the sidewalk on Washington Ave. and also from the road on Cinder Street along the split rail fence.

AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA).

The Division of Cultural & Heritage Affairs strives to provide reasonable accommodations for individuals with disabilities with advance notice of need. If an accommodation is needed for museum programming, please direct your request in writing at least two (2) weeks before program to Gina Rosseland (Warren County Cultural & Heritage Affairs, 8 Belvidere Ave., Oxford, NJ 07863).

WHEELCHAIR ACCESS.

Two (2) designated parking spaces closest to the boardwalk. There will be signs and blue parking bumps marking those spaces.
The boardwalk leads to museum entrances (2nd entrance; sign with symbol). Doorways are wide enough for wheelchairs (manual, power) and walkers. Floor may be uneven in spots, please exercise caution.

MAIN FLOOR ENTRANCE & BOARDWALK.

For Nov. 8th, we will have one entrance/exit for the main floor-- at the end of the boardwalk is the "Reception Room" entrance. Please knock and wait for our greeters to open the door for you. Also bear in mind that this is also our exit.

LOWER LEVEL.

Visitors are asked to walk along our driveway to visit with the 2nd NJ. There are no stairs for visitors inside of the building. The Rev War soldiers, officers, and other members will be waiting to greet you on our lower drive, porch and in our speakers' room. In case of rain, some programming may be altered and brought inside the lower level or modified for outside.

AUDIO SYSTEM FOR HEARING IMPAIRED.

If requested, visitors may request an "assistive listening" device to use while inside of the museum (main floor, only). Please see the museum director (Gina) to request the use of one.

For more information for what we can provide for our visitors, please visit: www.warrencountynjheritage.com/history/shippen-manor-programming

We love History Trail Sunday! We look forward to spending the day with you each year! We welcome the community to join us (and the other sites) for History Trail weekend. Please bear in mind that sites are either open Sat., Nov. 7 or Sun., Nov. 8.

RESERVATIONS FOR HOLIDAY TOURS.

On Nov 1st, we open our reservations for the Victorian Candlelight Christmas Tours open for Sundays December 3 and 13 (11, 12 or 1pm). These hourly tours are free, but limited in space. They include a specialized tour (Victorian Christmas traditions) and a guest musician to perform at the start of each hourly tour.
Although the tours are free, the Friends of Shippen do accept donations (this is not required, but appreciated). All monies are used for the museum. These tours fill up quickly!
If there is inclement weather (snow, ice), the tours may be cancelled and will not be rescheduled.

#ShippenManor #OxfordNJ #OxfordColonialUMC #2ndnj #ExploreWarrenHistoryTrail ... See MoreSee Less

Shippen Manor

3 weeks ago

Smallpox Epidemic during the Revolution

This disease has been evident in world society since around 10,000 BCE in northeastern Africa.

Spanish and Portuguese conquistadors (conquering explorers or soldiers) inadvertantly brought small pox to the New World (Central, South America), which greatly decimated indigenous tribes in those regions.

During the French & Indian War (1754-1763), British forces used smallpox as a biological weapon that weakened French-allied indigenous tribes in North America.

Smallpox was the scourge of the colonial era, particular amongst the Continental Army during the Revolution. Because of this highly contagious infection, Gen. Washington mandated inoculation for all Continental soldiers in 1777.

[Grossness Alert!]

The incubation period was about 2 weeks, which meant that someone changing bed linen or sweeping floors may contract the infection.

The only option that they had during the Revolution, aside from letting men die, was to try an inoculation in which a doctor removed pus from an active pustule of an infected pereson and insert it into the skin (through scratches) of the individuals being inoculated.

Even though the inoculated individuals were infected, tthey usually only experienced mild symptoms that were not life-threatening. As a result, if the inoculated person survived, they would be immune to smallpox in the future.

Statistics. 1775-1782

- North American smallpox caused about 130,000 deaths across the continent.

- Smallpox already existed in Boston prior to Washington taking command of the Continental Army during the summer of 1775.

- Estimated 90% of the Continental Army's 70,000 fatalities during the war were due to infectious diseases, with smallpox being the most devastating.

- Smallpox was airborne, but also spread through bodily fluids, or even by touching contaminated clothing. Once infected, victims experienced fever, headaches, body pains and a severe rash.

- An estimated 30% of American colonies afflicted died and survivors were often left with characteristic scarring.

- In North America, the disease was "endemic", which means that many Americans had little to no exposure to the disease.

- Gen. Washington was afflicted in 1751 when he was 19 years old. He contracted it while outside of the mainland on a visit to Barbados with his brother, Lawrence. He was sick for nearly a month. It left slight scarring, but also a lifelong immunity.

- CT Gov. Jonathan Trumbull wrote to Washington on 4 July 1776 that, "Fear of the Infection operates strongly to prevent Soldiers from engaging in the Services, and the Battalionis ordered to be raised in this Colony fill up slowly." (History of Vaccines)

- Gen. Philip Schuyler reported similar recruitment issues in NY. He wrote that many potential recruits were "extremely apprehenisve of being infected with small pox and not without Reason as it proves fatal to many of them." (History of Vaccines)

- Gen. Dr. Joseph Warren (for whom our county is named) was an American physician and surgeon who supported the smallpox inoculation campaigns in March 1770. ("Between the smallpox epidemic")

On 5 February 1776, Gen. Washinton issued an order in a letter to John Hancock (Pres. of the 2nd Continental Congress) mandating smallpox inoculations for all troops.

On 6 February 1776, Gen. Washington wrote to Dr. William Shippen, Jr. (son of the Oxford Company's owner, Dr William Shippen, Sr.), who was the Continental Army's Medical Director, and ordered all Philadelphia recruits to be inoculated. He was direct and very clear, "Necessity not only authorizes but seems to require the measure, for should the disorder infect the Army... we should have more to dread from it than from the Sword of the Enemy.”

By the end of 1777, about 40,000 soldiers were inoculated against smallpox. In March 1778, while encamped at Valley Forge (PA) during the British occupation of Philadelphia, Washington modified his orders to continue the inoculation program at the camp. (History of Vaccines)

Before this program, about 90% of the deaths of American soldiers and personnel was due to disease, primarily smallpox.

#ShippenManor #Rev250 #WarrenCoNJ #RevolutionaryWar #America250

Resources:

"Against All Odds: George Washington, Smallpox, and the American Revolution." St. Luke's Museum. stlukesmuseum.org/edu-blog/against-all-odds-george-washington-smallpox-and-the-american-revolution/.

"Between the smallpox epidemic and the war of independence: Joseph Warren (1741-1775) as physician and politician." Heart, Vessels, and Transplantation. Vol. 9, No. 3 (2025), Issue 3. 16 August 2025. www.hvt-journal.com/articles/art583.

Higgins, Kathleen. "Lessons from a Revolutionary Epidemic." The American Revolution Institute. 1 Apr 2020. www.americanrevolutioninstitute.org/lessons-from-a-revolutionary-epidemic/.

Najera, Rene F. "Washington's War Against Smallpox: The Revolutionary Inoculation Campaign." History of Vacinnes. 7 April 2025. historyofvaccines.org/blog/washingtons-war-against-smallpox-revolutionary-inoculation-campaign/.

"Smallpox, Inoculation, and the Revolutionary War" Boston National Historical Park. NPS. www.nps.gov/articles/000/smallpox-inoculation-revolutionary-war.htm.

"Washington Inoculates an Army: The Continental Army Battles an Invisible Foe." American Battlefield Trust. www.battlefields.org/learn/articles/washington-inoculates-army. ... See MoreSee Less