Trenton Officially Cites the Historic Importance of Frazee House in Union County

Shoring and Stabilization Completed at Frazee House

Union County Grant Enables Plans for Reconstruction

Interview with Frazee president,Andy Calamaras

The Gershom and Betty Frazee House in Scotch Plains has received official recognition by the state of New Jersey with a listing on the New Jersey Register of Historic Places in the New Jersey State Historic Preservation Office.

"It’s a long path for a neglected historic gem to make its way to the prominence that it deserves," said Andy Calamaras, president of the Aunt Betty Frazee Project to restore the Frazee House to its Revolutionary period character. The restoration effort dates to a commitment made in 2004 by Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary Club.

The Frazee House is an ordinary farmstead, the sort of structure that is rarely preserved down the centuries. As readers of this newsletter may know, the house is most famous for its association with Betty Frazee and a famous anecdote of the Revolutionary War, a story as striking and memorable as those of Molly Pitcher in Monmouth County and Betsy Ross in Philadelphia. Betty issued a challenging retort when British General Lord Cornwallis asked her to provide fresh loaves to his troops. The telling of the encounter lends credit to both Betty and the general and provides a subtle insight into the relations of colonists and occupying English forces.

Now, as of Sept. 28, 2009, the Frazee House in Scotch Plains at the southwestern corner of Union County meets the New Jersey and National Register criteria for significance in American history and architecture. The house reflects "integrity of location, design, setting, materials, workmanship, feeling and association."

"This designation is a major step that brings well deserved credibility to our efforts to raise funds for restoration," said Calamaras. Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary Frazee House Inc., is committed to bringing the house forward from its current state to a valid restoration useful to the community.

"Many decisions await to be made about restoration now that we have secured the structure and stabilized it," added Calamaras.

"Each mark of honor, each token of recognition of the value of this old house paves the way to the day when the Frazee property will be restored as a point of pride in our town, our county, and the state," noted Calamaras. "This is an exciting development and inspiring to our committed restoration team."

With this historic designation in New Jersey, the Frazee site’s file will now be forwarded to the National Park Service in Washington, D.C., for consideration to be listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

The New Jersey Historic Preservation Office, charged with bringing expertise in a variety of fields essential to preserving historic resources, is part of New Jersey’s Department of Environmental Protection.

The Rotary-Frazee Restoration Inc. this spring completed a vital step in the effort to create a historical testament to Revolutionary War courage in southwest Union County. Accepting the expert advice of Historic Building Architects, LLC, the Frazee organization contracted with Jetco Unlimited, Inc., and in May completed a $45,000 project to erect load-bearing temporary supports from floor to roof within the Frazee house to assure the integrity of the structure in the event of stressful conditions such as heavy snow.

An engineering analysis of the house disclosed telltale sagging that suggested a precarious state. Examination of ways in which the house had been maintained over many decades disclosed the use of massive materials (brick nogging) in upper parts of the house that by now added to the burdens on the house’s framework. Therefore, before restoration, and to ensure the safety of any who work on and in the house, a temporary stiffening was required to ensure the roof and walls remain intact.

The diagram attached shows the interior framework that the contractor adopted for shoring and stabilizing the house. The photograph of the attic suggests how the framing works. Where the vertical elements rest on the attic floor, immediately beneath that point on the ceiling below, another vertical element takes the load, and so the weight of the roof is transferred to temporary basement footings resting on the solid earth. Other framing elements tie members horizontally to ease stresses. The framing is temporary but would serve for a decade or more to ensure the Frazee house will stand under any foreseeable conditions.

The Frazee organization today is laying plans for reconstruction that will eventually be visible to the neighbors of the Frazee House and to Union County at large. The Frazee organization desires as much as possible to reconstruct the house with materials authentic to the years 1761 to 1815 (the ‘period of significance’). Yet much of the fabric of the house, including termiteweakened elements needing replacement, already consists of ‘inauthentic’ 19th and even 20th century materials installed in previous reconstructions, as would happen with any aging building. Our current restoration will proceed faster if elements already more recent than 1815 are identified for replacement with modern materials at lower cost than historic materials. That will enabe us to invest efficiently in a restoration that is both authentic and practical.

In doing this our responsibility is to first differentiate the deteriorated 18th century material from deteriorated recent materials. For the task, the Frazee organization has engaged an expert and applied for a grant to implement the study. Identifying the age of wood involves a discipline called dendrochronology or tree-ring dating. The method serves to tell the age of ancient forests and is applied to harvested wood as well, including construction materials. As the firm Anthony and Associates investigates the extent of concealed rot and insect damage to the building’s timbers, a dendrochronologist will examine the rings in the wood to determine its age. Anthony & Associates will also recommend repair and replacement options for damaged timbers. The study will conform to the Secretary of the Interior’s Standards for the Treatment of Historic Properties. The Union County Board of Chosen Freeholders is supporting the reconstruction planning and has provided $3,675 in a matching grant.

Frazee Stalwart Bob Kraus Passes Away

Frazee organization board member Bob Kraus passed away on February 11, 2009. As an attorney in Scotch Plains and long-time Fanwood resident, Bob Kraus had helped shepherd the Frazee restoration from its inception in 2004. As a leader in Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary, Bob handled legal arrangements by which the FSP Rotary Club created Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary - Frazee House Inc. and leased the Fanwood house and adjacent acre of land from the township of Scotch Plains for 99 years. Bob was well known as a benefactor to Union County, counting among his achievements the creation of a multi-million dollar scholarship fund for graduates of high school in the towns of Fanwood and Scotch Plains under auspices of the Rotary-Garbe Foundation. Bob is pictured here at left with Andy Calamaras, now president of Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary - Frazee House Inc., on the occasion when Bob was honored as volunteer of the year in 2007 by the Fanwood Scotch Plains Rotary Club.

Q The Frazee group has been working toward a restoration since 2004. How do you feel about the progress to date?

A I feel happy, but we have to admit that the task we’ve faced since 2004 has only grown larger as we encountered the realities of the Frazee house’s condition. Structural weaknesses caused by deterioration and by some of the efforts to maintain the house over the past 200 years had almost gotten ahead of us. That’s why we’ve had to engage in short-term shoring project to ensure against disaster in, say, a heavy snowfall.

Q What do you say to anyone who might suggest the restoration isn’t worth the effort?

A There’s plenty of reason to persist with the project. How many great stories are there like that of Betty and the British general? Monmouth County has its Molly Pitcher, and Union County has its Betty Frazee. Philly has Betsy, and Scotch Plains has Betty. The house will help keep Betty’s story alive. Also – and this would be a point of pride to any community — we have here a unique architectural specimen as well. The farmstead was home to ordinary folks. It’s the kind of building that rarely survives, unlike, say the large home of a wealthy townsperson. The New Jersey Historical Commission tells us this is a key element of their interest in our project.

Q Where are you looking for public support for the Frazee restoration?

A Even though we’re the new historical kid on the block, so to speak, Union County’s Division of Cultural and Heritage Affairs has been quite generous to us. The fact that the county supported the very basic need for shoring the property suggests that there’s widespread feeling that the house and Betty’s story are assets to be treasured, not neglected. They bring cachet to the town, the county and the state.

Q What about the town of Scotch Plains?

A The house is a regional asset, but it has to be a good neighbor in Scotch Plains. Town leadership is working with us to identify a vision for the restoration that is good for the southwest corner of town and positive for the stature of Scotch Plains. Kevin Ward, who is Scotch Plains public works director, meets with the Frazee board, and his department is maintaining the acreage adjacent to the Frazee house (we have one acre with the house, the town has five). Scotch Plains Mayor Nancy Malool has asked councilperson Mary De Paola to join the planning effort, and Mary regularly joins Frazee board meetings. We are meeting with town leadership about how to develop the Frazee house to be a useful good neighbor as well as a historical distinction for our region.

Q What are your top priorities right now?

A Physically, we have to fortify the house’s foundation. Our budget is currently directed to solid supports for the walls so they won’t be eroded by water flow and don’t admit termites and pests. Organizationally, our top priority is to work with community leaders, both officials and all others who influence life in Union County, to determine a use for the restored Frazee house. We have no axe to grind here. For example, the house could become a community meeting place or an organization’s headquarters. At a minimum, for historical purposes, we need to restore the kitchen portion of the house to support the story of Betty baking bread. We’re open to suggestions.