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In celebration of the nation’s 250th anniversary, a unique exhibit is open in one South Jersey county. “Burlington County Joins the Revolution,” at the Warden’s House Gallery in Mount Holly, includes a variety of artifacts including cannonballs, weapons, clothing and recollections from the period.

Marisa Bozarth, the Burlington County museum curator of history, said the exhibit  features excerpts from a diary written by Margret Morris, a Burlington City mother of four who was a widow, between December 1776 and the summer of 1778.

“She talks about troops coming into the city, her son is accused of being a spy because he goes up on a hill and is watching boats in the water, and troops coming and knocking on her door looking for him,” she said.

An inspiration for future generations

Allison Eckel is the deputy director of the Burlington County Board of Commissioners and the chairperson of the Burlington County 250th Anniversary Committee. She said that while the individuals highlighted in the exhibit faced different challenges than we experience today, their struggles and the solutions they arrived at can serve as an inspiration, and in some cases, a guiding light for us.

“The people back then in Burlington County and in the whole area were innovators in their own right, they innovated in society, they innovated in economics,” she said. “What did they do with what they had? How did they make a difference? We can learn from that in exhibits like this one.”

She said it offers a unique opportunity to better understand what life was like during the American Revolution.

“These are tangible ways to access what happened back then, see who are these people. What did they do, what did they face? We find out that what they faced is not so different from things that we face in modern times.”

Bozarth said during the war, while the men were fighting, everyone else was working to support them.

“Our ironworks were supplying cannonballs and armaments and pots, kettles, everything they need to survive,” she said. “And our agriculture in our community was providing crops, cattle, sheep, pretty much anything they could get their hands on.”

She said Morris, who lived on the banks of the Delaware River, was a doctor and treated American, British and German soldiers throughout the duration of the war. At one point she gave shelter to a Tori who faced a terrible fate.

“They were going to bayonet him in the street, and she tells the story of hiding him in her attic and eventually helping him get out of the city,” she said.

Artifacts from the past

The exhibit features four different sized cannonballs.

“We have some that are from right here in Mount Holly, they were discovered up on Iron Works hill,” she said. “We have one from Springfield Township, where the battle of Petticoat Bridge took place and we have a mortar from Burlington City that would have been used by the Navy.”

Also featured in the exhibit is a sword that belonged to Capt. Thomas Reynolds of Pemberton Township, who was taken captive by the British on Christmas Day in 1776, and a replica of a regulation Continental uniform.

“A lot of them wore whatever they could get their hands on,” Bozarth said, “because many times uniforms just weren’t available.”

Burlington County Museum attendant and historian Eric Orange helped to put the exhibit together. He said in 1776 Burlington County was occupied by the Hessians, German soldiers hired by the British, and the 42nd Scottish Highlanders, a British regiment.

An occupation

He said the occupiers pillaged and plundered, which led to a significant battle in Mount Holly between the Hessians, the Highlanders and a young American militia from Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties.

“Many of the Americans were teenagers going up against some of the worthiest adversaries on the planet,” he said. “A lot of them were caught up in the political frenzy of that time.”

Orange said several significant battles took place in Burlington County that proved to be consequential to American independence.

Eckel said one of her favorite parts of the exhibit is a framed letter sent to British officials by several Burlington County women whose homes had been ransacked by British troops.

“Rightly so, the residents were mad about it, so they kept an accounting of everything that was taken,” she said. “There’s chickens, there’s razors, there’s how many chickens and what the value of what those chickens is, and it’s a bill to the government for restitution.”

She said the letter is a reminder that the victims of the American Revolution were not only the people killed, but the individuals who were just trying to live their lives and were caught up in the war. It’s unclear if the bill was ever paid.

Several portraits of different soldiers with short stories about them hang on the walls of the museum.

“A lot of the stories come from diaries from the time period, Bozarth said. “One Hessian Captain describes a lot of the battles that took place and he also drew several maps of the region.”

Burlington County spokesperson Dave Levinsky said celebrating an event like the nation’s 250th is special.

“It’s a once in a generation opportunity to share with the whole world what’s unique and special about Burlington County,” he said. “People from this area played a crucial role in the American Revolution and it’s a treat to be a part of it.”

The Warden’s House Gallery Museum, at 150 High St. in Mount Holly, New Jersey, is open Thursday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Sunday from noon until 4 p.m. Admission is free and the exhibit will continue until June 14.