Prior to the American Revolution, feasts, fireworks, music and illuminations honored His Majesty King George III on his natal day in June. From 11 AM to 5 PM on Saturday, June 11, 2011, the Bergen County Historical Society will celebrate its Revolutionary War Loyalist heritage with the second annual celebration of the King’s Birthday at Historic New Bridge Landing, 1201-1209 Main Street, River Edge, NJ, 07661. Bergen’s population, which included many Loyalists during the war, certainly would have partaken in such activities. This year, members of the 4th Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers, the Loyalist corps raised in Bergen County by Lt. Col. Abraham Van Buskirk, of New Bridge, will be on hand from 1 to 5 PM to give demonstrations of musketry, cooking, engineering, and drill. Visitors can try their hand with quill and ink to sign oaths of loyalist to the king! Donation: $7 adult, $5 children, BCHS members free. For info, call 201-343-9492 or visit:
http://www.bergencountyhistory.orgAt 11 AM, noted Revolutionary War historian, Loyalist researcher and Past President of the Bergen County Historical Society, Todd W. Braisted, will give an illustrated talk on the Steuben House on the common Loyalist soldier during the American Revolution. About 50,000 men enrolled in Loyalist units throughout the American colonies, taking part in most major engagements. Discover the differences between them and their Continental Army counterparts, and even their British Regular Army comrades. At 7 PM, Todd Braisted will present a detailed study of how George Washington’s Army at Valley Forge actually aided British recruiting in Philadelphia during the winter of 1777-1778. When it comes to looking at the war, most descendents of the war’s soldiers know their ancestor served on one side or the other. But few realize that thousands served on both sides of the conflict at one time or another.
New Bridge was home to two prominent Loyalists, Jan Zabriskie and Lt. Col. Abraham Van Buskirk, who lived on opposite sides of the river in what is now Teaneck and River Edge. On December 23, 1783, the State of New Jersey presented the confiscated estate of Loyalist Jan Zabriskie, consisting of a 12-room stone mansion, gristmill and about 40 acres of land at New Bridge, to Major-General Baron von Steuben, Inspector-General of the Continental Army. According to the wishes of the Legislature, he was to “hold, occupy and enjoy the said estate in person, and not by tenant.”
Experience history in one of the storied places where it was made! Visit the Revolutionary War battleground at The Bridge That Saved A Nation and tour the Zabriskie-Steuben House, Demarest House, Campbell-Christie House and Jersey Dutch Out Kitchen. The Bergen County Historical Society, a non-profit volunteer organization founded in 1902, is currently raising funds to build a Bergen County Museum of History on its property, which forms the core of Historic New Bridge Landing Park.
