Spring Concert at the Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage: Songs of Nature - May 21, 2017

Spring Concert at the Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage: Songs of Nature
Sunday, May 21, 2017

On Sunday, May 21, beginning at 1:30 pm, balladeer Linda Russell will perform historical music at the Old Dutch Parsonage historic site in Somerville, New Jersey.

Celebrate the arrival of spring with songs of the American colonies! When colonists first set foot in the New World, they found a rich, raw landscape that appeared untamed. Colonists saw nature as beautiful and yet a source of danger, a savage wilderness. Join balladeer Linda Russell as she performs music celebrating nature’s harmonies with poetic depictions of birds and flowers, but also human struggles with nature’s perils. Playing the hammered and mountain dulcimers, penny whistle and guitar, Linda sings and plays ballads, love songs, dance tunes, and working songs written in early America and brought over from the Old World.

Linda Russell is a balladeer who brings America’s past to life through song. She has served for many years as musical historian for the National Park Service at Federal Hall National Memorial and has performed at historic sites throughout New York and New Jersey.

There is suggested ten dollar per-person donation fee to attend this program. All visitors must register for this program in advance. To register, call 908-725-1015 or e-mail whouse3@verizon.net. Please register early, as seating is limited.

The Wallace House, built in 1776, served as George Washington’s winter headquarters during the Middlebrook Cantonment of 1778-1779. The house was the country residence of retired Philadelphia merchant John Wallace; Washington rented the use of half the house for himself and his staff and paid Wallace $1,000 for the use of his house and furniture. During his stay, the General hosted foreign dignitaries and planned strategies for the spring military campaign. The house is fully restored and furnished with period furniture.

The Old Dutch Parsonage was constructed in 1751, by the congregations of three local Dutch Reform Churches. The house was occupied by the Reverend John Frelinghuysen and his family until his death in 1754. His successor, the Reverend Jacob Hardenberg was the principal founder and first president of Queens College in New Brunswick, now Rutgers University.

Both sites are administered by the New Jersey Division of Parks and Forestry, and are open to visitors Wednesday through Sunday. The Wallace House and Old Dutch Parsonage are both listed on the New Jersey and National Registers of Historic Places.

The parking lot entrance and interpretive center for the sites is located at 71 Somerset Street, Somerville, NJ. For directions and more information about the sites, visit www.wallacehouseassociation.org or call 908-725-1015.

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