Court House Bell

Period1756

(not assigned)New Jersey or Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

MediumCast and wrought iron, bronze

DimensionsBell: 13 × 14 in. (33 × 35.6 cm)
Mount: 22.25 × 12 in. (56.5 × 30.5 cm)

InscribedMolded inscription on bell, "SOLI DEO GLORIA A 1756"

ClassificationsGroup and Organization Memorabilia

Credit LineGift of Helen Louise Reid, Lotta Reid Burke, Mary Elizabeth Oakley, and Henry Lloyd Schenck in memory of Helen Schenck Reid, 1931

Object number41

DescriptionA cast iron bell with two bands of foliate scrollwork above and below a central inscription and date. A molded inscription reads "SOLI DEO GLORIA A 1756," which translates from Latin to "Glory to God alone," and the year 1756. The bell is mounted to a crossbar which fits into arched bracket mounts to the left and right, allowing the assembly to swing freely.
Curatorial RemarksThe British Army, during their retreat after the Battle of Monmouth, left behind five officers and over forty soldiers, all wounded, in the court house. On 29 June 1778, the day after the battle, Continental soldiers raised the patriot flag from the steeple.NotesThis bell hung in the Monmouth Court House in Freehold, Monmouth County, during the second half of the eighteenth century. This was Freehold's second court house, built in 1731 after the first was destroyed by fire in 1727. The building was described as a frame structure, "nearly square," with a small cupola or steeple in the center of the roof.

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