Images(2)

Monmouth Court-House in 1778

Artist Carrie A. Bowne Swift

Period1895

MediumOil on art board

Dimensions13.5 × 15.5 in. (34.3 × 39.4 cm)

InscribedInscribed, "Monmouth Court-House in 1778."

SignedSigned on reverse, "Painted by / Carrie A. Swift 1895"

ClassificationsLandscapes & Still Life

Credit LineGift of Mrs. Rulif V. Lawrence, 1932

Object number159

DescriptionView of a two-story gambrel-roofed building left of center with a three bay facade, two bay side elevation, two chimneys, and a small cupola in the center of the roof. A board fence extends from the structure to the left edge of the painting, while a post and rail fence appears against the right edge of the work. A rider on a black horse approaches from the left toward the front steps of the building. Three rocks and a tree form the foreground, while the sky is a pale blue with two clouds. The building is surrounded by a grassy area, with bushes to its right.
Curatorial RemarksIn about 1807, the second Monmouth Court House was moved across the street and converted into a private residence. It was later used as a stable until being torn down in 1809. Thus, the artists who created this selection of renderings of the 1731 court house would have relied on print sources, including an illustration in Benson J. Lossing’s article, “The Battle of Monmouth Court-House” (Harper’s New Monthly Magazine 57 [June 1878]), published in celebration of the centennial of the battle. Lossing said that while visiting Freehold, he met “Mr. J. S. Denise, an old citizen, now over eighty years of age, who seemed to have a vivid recollection of the old court-house, and from his description was enabled to make the drawing . . . It is believed to be very nearly, if not quite, correct.” An 1895 article in the Monmouth Democrat noted that “The pretty little oil painting to be seen in the window of the Democrat office representing the Monmouth Court House in 1778, was painted by Mrs. Carrie A. Swift from a small wood cut in the June number, 1878, of Harper’s Monthly . . .” It was one of fifteen illustrations contained in a lengthy article on the Battle of Monmouth Court-House written by Benson J. Lossing, a prolific and popular 19th century historian. However, Swift added her own personal touch to the scene by eliminating the two figures in Lossing’s image in favor in favor of a solitary horseman.NotesThe Battle of Monmouth is often referred to as the Battle of Monmouth Court House. In 1778, Monmouth Court House was a small agricultural village comprised of about thirty dwellings, a blacksmith shop, two taverns, some shops, and two schoolhouses. Aside from the local church, the most prominent building in the hamlet was the court house on Main Street––a three-story wood structure with shingled sides, almost square, that was surmounted by a gambrel roof with a small cupola. Erected in 1731, this was the second court house (the first one, which opened in 1715, was destroyed by fire in 1727). After the battle, the courthouse served as a refuge for the sick and wounded.

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