Frelinghuysen Arboretum, Spring 2023 | Morris Township, New Jersey

The Frelinghuysen Family

The Frelinghuysen family (great link with a family tree!) has been possibly the most prominent New Jersey family for centuries. They came to New Jersey even before the Revolutionary War. Many family members have been politically active, Some have married into other extremely prominent American families, including the Boston Brahmins.

According to New Jersey Monthly:

The Frelinghuysen family tree planted itself in U.S. soil when Theodorus emigrated from Germany to the Raritan Valley in the British colony of New Jersey in 1720, evangelizing as a Dutch-Reformed minister during the period of religious fervor known as the Great Awakening. His grandson, Frederick Frelinghuysen, was commissioned major general in 1794 during the Whiskey Rebellion. He also served as a delegate from New Jersey to the Continental Congress of 1779, a member of the state legislature, a U.S. senator, and U.S. district attorney for New Jersey.

As the Newark Public Library writes in The Frelinghuysens: When Jersey’s ‘Imperial’ Family Reigned:

They served in the Continental Congress and count among them a U.S. secretary of state, mayor and city councilman of Newark, attorney general of New Jersey and a military general. Family members have walked in temperance lines, directed the Howard Savings Institution, gone to jail as protesting suffragettes, controlled the sugar trust in the 19th century, built great art collections and were important figures in the history of the Newark Museum and New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.

The Library continues:

Some were university presidents. Others married into families including the Ballantines, Procter & Gamble, and Mutual Benefit Life Insurance. Another served as Newark corporation counsel. Indeed, probably few other families in America can show such a rich link with a city, region and the nation as the fabulous Frelinghuysens.

The Frelinghuysen Arboretum

This historic site has a long and proud history.

According to the Friends of the Arboretum website:

George G. Frelinghuysen, a patent attorney and son of Frederick T. Frelinghuysen, Secretary of State under President Chester A. Arthur, was married in 1881 to Sara Ballantine of Newark. She was the granddaughter of the founder of the P. Ballantine Brewing Company.

In 1891 the couple commissioned the Boston architectural firm of Rotch & Tilden to construct a summer home and carriage house on property they named Whippany Farm for the river nearby. The Colonial Revival style is evident in such details as the Federal urns and swags, Ionic columns on the porte-cochere and the large Palladian window on the second floor landing.

The family only lived here during the summer months. In the winter they resided at 1 Sutton Place in New York City. The property was a working farm. Vegetables and flowers were grown for the family’s consumption and sent to them in New York City via train. There were greenhouses, several barns and some smaller houses on the property. Some servants lived on the property year around.

George Frelinghuysen died in 1936 and Sara Frelinghuysen died in 1940. This property was left to their only daughter, Matilda (1887-1969). Miss Frelinghuysen had an interest in gardening and was a member of the Garden Club of Morristown. In 1964, she began plans for turning the estate into an arboretum. Upon her death the land and house was bequeathed to the people of Morris County for the use as a public arboretum. The Frelinghuysen Arboretum was dedicated in 1971.

Visiting The Arboretum

As you can see, the Arboretum is a beautiful place. You can visit it year-round from 8 a.m. to dusk. Admission is free.

As the Morris County Park Commission says:

The majestic 124 acres of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum offer a serene place to relax, as well as to learn, explore, and celebrate. Surrounding a magnificent Colonial Revival mansion, the woodlands, meadows, gardens, and distinctive collections of trees and shrubs provide an ideal setting for leisurely enjoyment, as well as provide educational and scientific exploration. Digital maps of The Frelinghuysen Arboretum are available online.