By Helen Kull
As the year 2014 becomes history, I wish you a happy, healthy 2015!
As I write this in mid-December, holiday and year-end events are still unfolding, including events celebrating the 350th anniversary state-wide.
Locally, upcoming historically-related activities in central-Jersey include a fascinating exhibit presenting a cartographic history of New Jersey, which continues into February at the Firestone Library at Princeton.
And undoubtedly, Washington and his troops will once again cross the Delaware on Christmas Day, to the delight of all.
I’ve just spent a very enjoyable afternoon at the annual holiday open house party hosted by the Ewing Township Historic Preservation Society at its home at the Benjamin Temple House on Federal City Road in Ewing.
In recent years, the holiday party has been a shared event with the members of the Hopewell Valley Historical Society, our “cousins” from Pennington and Hopewell.
The Temple House was festively decorated for the season, and easily 60 or more people stopped by, enjoying the food and fellowship, and sharing stories of interesting aspects of local history.
At the party, I had a delightful conversation with Patrick Ryan, a gentleman who, as a child, regularly visited his grandfather who lived in and ran a dairy farm from this same house (albeit in another location).
While the home is more commonly called the “Benjamin Temple House” after its colonial-era original owner, its name on the National Register of Historic Places is actually the “Temple-Ryan Farmhouse,” denoting the two families who separately owned and occupied the home for more than two centuries.
When there were no more Temple family descendants to live in the house, it was sold to the Ryan family, who then operated a dairy farm from the home for five decades. Patrick Ryan’s grandfather was William Ryan, who ran Ryan’s Dairy farm and sold dairy products in a store on Parkway Avenue.
Of course, those of you who lived in the area back then know that the Ryan dairy farm was not located on Federal City Road, where the Temple-Ryan Farmhouse now stands.
The farm and its farmhouse were actually located approximately where Interstate 95 crosses Route 31. When Interstate 95 was being planned, the house was in its path.
A tireless effort was mounted to save the c.1750 home, and it was moved to its current site on nearby Federal City Road in 1972.
Mr. Ryan has generously donated some family artifacts to the Society, and shared many priceless memories of the people and events that once occupied this historic home, for which we are very grateful.
There are currently plans in the works for a Ryan Family Reunion this coming summer, and the Society hopes to have the opportunity to hear stories from other members of the family as well when they come to attend the reunion.
I am certain that there are other folks among my readers who could also share their reminiscences of life in Ewing in days gone by!
As the new president-elect of the township historical society, I hope to make the collection of some of these reminiscences, stories and artifacts a priority in the coming year (or more!).
So again, I offer a challenge at the start of the new year: tell us about “your Ewing.”
We are blessed to have the Temple House in which to collect and display artifacts, and a team of volunteers who are committed to cataloging and archiving the information.
We have a fantastic site manager, Ellie Calcagno, the “public face” of the Society who is so very knowledgeable of all things related to Ewing history. We have members of the Society who are passionately dedicated to helping the Society to grow and become more visible. All we need is YOU!
The Society’s first meeting of 2015 will be Sunday, Jan. 11 at 2 p.m. at the Temple House, 27 Federal City Road — that dark red house set back from the road that you’ve always wondered about.
Whether you’re a member or not, come! After a very brief business meeting and installation of officers, we’ll have a “Show and Tell” of items, photos or stories about Ewing. Come share in Ewing’s history!
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