Morristown was the site of two winter encampments by the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. The first one was from January to May 1777, with Washington's headquarters at Arnold's Tavern. The second one was from December 1779 to June 1780, with Washington's headquarters at the Ford Mansion.[3]
E. Mabel Clark was the daughter of Charles F. Clark, President of the Bradstreet Company, now Dun & Bradstreet. The family lived in New York City and had a country house, Fairacres, in the Normandy Park section of Morristown.[4][5] She commissioned Frederick Roth for an equestrian statue of Washington and specified that the horse be modeled after the workhorse she had seen pulling a milk wagon in New York.[6] Roth was known as an animal sculptor, especially for his 1925 Statue of Balto in New York's Central Park.[1] He finished c. 1927 and had the statue cast in Florence, Italy, at the bronze works foundry of Gusmano Vignali c. 1927–1928.[2] The installation site, a small triangular plot bounded by Morris and Washington Avenues, was donated to the city by Dr. Henry M. Dodge.[7] Clark donated the statue to the city at the dedication on October 19, 1928. Speakers included Mayor Clyde W. Potts and Justice Charles W. Parker of the New Jersey Supreme Court. The sculptor attended the ceremony and was honored at a reception hosted by Clark.[8][9]
Description
The sculpture depicts Washington in winter, wearing a uniform with a mantle and tricorner hat. The sculptor signed it: F.G.R. Roth. The statue measures approximately 12 feet (3.7 m) high x 4 feet 7 inches (1.40 m) wide x 10 feet (3.0 m) long and is on a granite base that measures approximately 5 feet (1.5 m) high x 5 feet 10 inches (1.78 m) wide x 11 feet (3.4 m) long. The front of the base is inscribed: Washington, the back is inscribed:[2]
Headquarters at Morristown
January – May 1777
December 1779 – June 1780
^"Ross Museum Background and History"(PDF). Archived(PDF) from the original on January 21, 2023. Retrieved January 21, 2023. Ella Mabel Clark was a patron of the arts in New York city and Morristown, New Jersey
^Barbato, Joan (June 19, 1983). "George and the work horse". Daily Record. Morristown, New Jersey. Archived from the original on January 23, 2023. Retrieved January 23, 2023 – via Newspapers.com. Two or three years ago in New York, while taking her daily walk with her dogs, she met a wonderful horse drawing a Sheffield Farm milk wagon, and it occurred to her that a horse of this powerful build was the ideal type for Washington's mount.