The New Jersey Museum of Agriculture is pleased to present the new informative exhibit about President Abraham Lincoln now on display in the Bristol-Myers Squibb Exhibit Hall. The exhibit, "Lincoln's Agricultural Legacy" will be on display through June 2008.
Lincoln’s Agricultural Legacy
Abraham Lincoln (February 12, 1809 – April 15, 1865) was the sixteenth President of the United States, serving from March 4, 1861 until his assassination.
Lincoln's own background of pioneer farming and rural life was typical of the outer edge of America's westward-moving frontier.
His early years were spent on farms characterized by pioneer exploitation rather than by settled cultivation. The 300-acre tract in central Kentucky on which his log-hut birthplace stood was too poor to be called a farm. As a boy, he lived on a 30-acre farm. Because of hills and gullies only 14 acres could be cultivated. This farm background, on what was then the western frontier, and his years as a country lawyer made Lincoln, during the 1850's, a representative of the frontier, the farmer, and small town democracy.
The first domestic measure that Lincoln signed into law was when Lincoln established the Department of Agriculture on May 15, 1862.
The Homestead Act, approved by the President on May 20, 1862, provided for giving 160 acres of the public domain to any American or prospective citizen who was the head of a family or over 21 years of age. Title to the land was issued after the settler had resided on it for five years and made improvements on it. The settler could also gain title by residing on the claim for six months, improving the land, and paying $1.25 per acre. The Homestead Act did not achieve all that its proponents had hoped, but it stood as a symbol of American democracy and opportunity to native-born and immigrant alike.
The Morrill Land Grant College Act, donating public land to the States for colleges of agriculture and the mechanical arts, became law on July 2, 1862. Every State accepted the terms of the act and established one or more such institutions. The oldest land-grant university is Rutgers University, which was founded in 1766. Rutgers University serves as the land-grant university for the State of New Jersey.
This exhibit was made possible by a grant from the American Agriculturalist Foundation.
Welcome to the exciting and unique exhibits at the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture...
Enter the Museum by way of the Rotunda in its south wing where the portraits of Walter E. Foran and Dr. Wabun C. Krueger are prominently displayed. Walter F. Foran, a Hunterdon County State Senator, helped secure funding for the Museum and was instrumental in making the dream of an agricultural museum for the Garden State become a reality in 1990. Dr. Wabun C. Krueger was, for over 40 years, the Museum's curator and individual collector responsible for most of the historical agricultural implements that make up the Museum's extraordinary collection.
Also in the Rotunda is a special exhibit, changed seasonally, of a new and fascinating object not previously displayed in the Museum. From the Rotunda take either the elevator or the stairs to the second floor where the exhibits begin.
On the second floor of the Museum's south wing is the exhibition: Jersey Fresh From the Field which focuses on the six most economically significant crops in the State: apples, cranberries, blueberries, tomatoes, corn and potatoes, as well as a display about packing crops for market. Among the many important artifacts featured here are:
· Apple Picking Scoop, 1920
· Three Legged Picking Ladder from Jersey Jerry Orchards, 1930
· Cranberry Cleaner and Separator manufactured by John Buzby, 1870
· Hand powered seed planter, 1850
· Two Row Seed Planter, 1850
· Hoover Seated Potato Seed Cutter manufactured by John Deer, 1920
· Horse Drawn Potato Digger manufactured by A.B. Farquhar, 1900
On display between the cranberry and blueberry portions of this exhibition is the Museum's live colony of honeybees in the Giant Observation Beehive - - the largest in the Northeast! It was intentionally placed between cranberries and blueberries because these crops depend upon the honeybee for pollination. Also on display are historical artifacts associated with beekeepers and the beekeeping industry.
Continuing on the second floor of the south wing, find a full scale, almost complete, Horse Collar Shop with a handmade iron weathervane from 1860. Adjacent is the Tin Shop which exemplifies E.B. White's quote that "Farming is about 20% agriculture and 80% mending something that got busted," spend time looking at the extensive collection of tools such as the oak turning lathe, the hand made drill press, a foot powered table saw, in addition to just about everything else used by carpenters in early America.
To the left, tucked into the corner, is one of the Museum's treasures - a fully stocked General Store, filled with everything one could possible need and want in early America. Next to it is a broom-making machine and sometimes on sunny days it is brought outside for a live demonstration of this craft.
Exhibited on the balcony that spans the two wings of the Museum is an exhibition of Historical Plows, among which is a noteworthy historical artifact - the Deats Plow, patented in 1828 by John Deats, grandfather of the donor.
Next walk into our largest gallery in the North Wing where some of the Museum's largest historical artifacts are displayed. You cannot miss the:
· Fanning Mill, manufactured by M. Campbell, Detroit, MI ca 1899.
· Horse Treadmill from Raritan, NJ ca. 1830, attached to a Thresher built in Pottstown, PA ca. 1890. On small farms, the Horse Treadmill most commonly powered threshing machines. Treadmills came in different size allowing up to three horses to work at one time.
· Dump Rake, NJ 1900. This machine was used to rake cut hay into piles to be picked up and then loaded onto wagons and hauled to storage.
· "Hero" Corn Sheller, manufactured by Mountville Company, Mountville, PA. Patented April 5, 1892. This sheller was turned either by hand crank or a separate power source such as a stationary gasoline engine.
· Fodder Chopper, handmade, NJ ca. 1750. This machine was used in the late 1700's to early 1800's to cut corn stalks into short pieces for animal feed.
· Chain Belt Potato Grader, NJ early 1900's. This apparatus separated potatoes into three sizes: large ones stayed on the top, medium sized fell below and caught onto the second band, and small ones fell completely through.
· "Egomatic" Egg Grading Machine (electric), ca. 1940, made in Titusville, NJ by Otto Niederer Sons, Inc. and sold worldwide.
Also located in this gallery is the Museum's near life-size replica of a Lenni Lenape Indian Wigwam along with a display of "gatherings" (natural materials utilized by the Lenape - - New Jersey's first farmers) and other Indian artifacts.
Proceed next down the stairs to the first floor of the north wing into the Hall of Transportation and Early Electrification where every type of moving farm vehicle imaginable is represented, from a cutter sleigh to a "Planet Junior" farm tractor and a horse drawn surrey. Do not miss the:
· Restored DeHart Farm Wagon, ca. 1898.
· Rumley Farm Tractor, ca. 1920. This tractor is powered by kerosene. For its time, it was a strong tractor that could pull heavy loads.
· Ford 9N Farm Tractor, built from 1939 to 1943. This originally all gray tractor introduced the 3-point power hitch system that revolutionized the industry.
· Meat Vendor's Sleigh, ca. 1900. The Eckhardt family, who butchered and sold meat in the Hammonton, NJ area, used this sleigh.
The Hall of Transportation and Early Electrification is also home to displays of early electrical appliances from the turn of the twentieth century including a washing machine, iron, butter churn, and other electric-powered conveniences.
Next walk into the Hall of Machines, between the two wings of the Museum, where on display are modern handmade quilts, especially made for the opening of the New Jersey Museum of Agriculture in 1990. Take a close look at a rare antique life-size reproduction of the McCormick Reaper, the world's first mechanized reaper. This reaper was introduced and tested in 1831; however, the one on display is a handmade reproduction dating from 1851. Across the Hall of Machines is a 1949 Case Combine. Combines are machines that "combine" the function of a reaper with that of a thresher, thus harvesting and separating grain in one continuous operation. The Hall of Machines is also home to "Aggie," the life-size model cow that museum visitors may actually milk by hand!
Next return to the south wing of the Museum, on the lower level, where you arrive at the Bristol-Myers Squibb Exhibit Hall for Changing Exhibitions.
After you complete your tour of the galleries, be sure to visit the Museum Store, always stocked with lots of interesting, fun, educational, and well-priced objects.
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