Governor Lewis Morris' 1742 Kitchen and Other Archaeological Findings

15 Market Street,Trenton NJ 08611

24 July, 2022

Description

In 1742, when he was appointed Governor of the colony of New Jersey, Lewis Morris was looking to lease suitable housing in Trenton. Then owned by the Governor of Pennsylvania, the Trent House - at the time known as Kingsbury - was his choice with one condition: that a separate kitchen building be constructed for use in place of the kitchen in the basement of the house and that it be large enough to accommodate his enslaved servants. While the existence of the kitchen building has long been known, no trace of it remains above ground. In 2014 Hunter Research was commissioned by the Trent House Association, with funding from NJM Insurance Group, to conduct a preliminary excavation, which successfully uncovered evidence of the building's foundation. Since then, with continued support from NJM and additional funding from the New Jersey Historic Trust, additional structures and artifacts have been discovered. Richard Hunter and Jim Lee of Hunter Research and Dr. Richard Veit of Monmouth University will bring the findings together and discuss ways that this historic treasure can inform our understanding of the lives of all those living and working on the plantation at the Falls of the Delaware in the 18th century.