Mural Project

Ross Farm Mural Guide:

A Story in Brushstrokes

The Friends of the Boudinot-Southard-Ross Estate welcomes you to the Ross Farm, where history lives not just in the bricks and beams of the house, but on the very walls that greet you as you enter. This mural, beautifully rendered by artist Michelle Cirotti, is a colorful and imaginative timeline that captures the spirit and story of this unique property.

From the construction of the farmhouse in the mid-1700s to present-day concerts and community events, the mural blends iconic moments and figures from the past with vibrant depictions of how the Ross Farm continues to thrive today.

This guide is your companion to the mural. Whether you are a volunteer sharing the story with guests or a visitor exploring on your own, this walk-through will help bring the images to life.

1. Building the House

Historians believe the original farmhouse on the site was a three-bay side hall structure with an attached kitchen. It was probably built around 1750 by the owner Daniel Morris. Elias Boudinot, a Revolutionary-era lawyer and statesman, purchased the farm in July 1771 and actively farmed the property. The scene shows the construction of what was then considered a grand country house.

With the British firmly in control of New York City, its rivers and harbor, and Staten Island, Boudinot moved his family to his existing farm on what his deed called the “Morristown-Baskinridge Meeting House Road.” It was a pivotal time in American history.

2. The Boudinot and Stockton Marriages

Two prominent New Jersey families became forever linked when Elias Boudinot married Hannah Stockton in 1762. Her brother, future signer of the Declaration of Independence Richard Stockton, had married Elias’s older sister Annis around 1757 in the family home of Morven. Elias and his brother Elisha were both mentored in the practice of law by Stockton. The mural’s depiction takes artistic license to imagine the celebrations and unity of these influential families.

3. Nassau Hall, Princeton University

This iconic building, the centerpiece of the College of New Jersey (now Princeton University), played a pivotal role in Revolutionary and early American history. Nassau Hall was central to the Battle of Princeton and later served as the temporary U.S. Capitol when Elias Boudinot, as President of the Continental Congress, moved Congress there in 1783. Pictured in the mural is Boudinot welcoming George Washington to Princeton in the summer of 1783. Elias arranged for George and Martha to stay at nearby Rockingham, where Washington penned his famous farewell to his officers. After a fire devastated Nassau Hall in 1802, Boudinot, as president of the college’s Board of Trustees, helped lead efforts to fund and oversee its
reconstruction.

Princeton served as an institution and place that firmly ties all three of our namesake families together. Elias Boudinot, his brother Elisha, Richard Stockton, and Samuel Southard all served as trustees. Elias Boudinot was a trustee for an astonishing 49 years. Elias’s son-in-law and future United States Attorney General William Bradford graduated for Princeton in 1772. Samuel Southard graduated from the college at the age of 17 in 1804, and his sons
followed. Edmund “Ned” Ross walked in the footsteps of his father and grandfather, graduating from Princeton in 1941. His wife Margaret Haskell Ross’s beloved father Amory Haskell graduated from Princeton in 1916, her brother Amory, Jr. in 1950. Their son Edmund Ross, Jr. graduated in 1973.

4. Revolutionary War and the Constitution

A copy of the United States Constitution rests beside a tended cannon, evoking the long struggle from the turmoil of war to the birth of a nation. This vignette hints at the risk, toil, and toll borne by so many. George Washington wrote Elias Boudinot in Basking Ridge on April 1, 1777 asking him to serve as Commissary General of Prisoners and Intelligence, and offered a commission of Colonel. Boudinot turned him down in a face-to-face meeting. As Elias wrote, the General had no intention of accepting a denial. “He very kindly objected to the conduct of gentlemen of the country refusing to join him in his arduous Struggle. That he had nothing in view by the salvation of his Country, but it was impossible for him to accomplish it alone. If men of character and influence
would not come forward and join him in his exertions, all would be lost.” Boudinot accepted the post under this pressure from the great man, and served in this arduous role with great distinction, losing much of his personal wealth and health as a result.

Elias was elected to the Continental Congress in 1778, and was chosen as President of the Continental Congress in 1782. In effect, Boudinot was a President before George Washington. He signed the peace treaty with Great Britain, officially ending the armed conflict. He advocated for New Jersey to adopt the new U.S. Constitution in the state convention. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Congresses – chairing the First Presidential Inauguration Committee for his friend George Washington, and the Bill of Rights Committee. He gave the first anti-slavery speech heard on the floor of that initial Congress in New York City. This image reminds us great accomplishments can be achieved with industry, intellect, and risk-taking of ordinary people who heed the call to action.

5. Stack of Boudinot Books

Elias Boudinot received just one year of formal schooling – attending his neighbor Benjamin Franklin’s school in Philadelphia as a child. Nevertheless, he was a gifted orator, investor, letter writer, debater, educator and author. He collected numerous volumes of poetry, natural history, legal theory and religious tomes. He wrote many books, pamphlets, and speeches on many subjects: biography, autobiography, travel, Native Americans, and Christian theology – these books’ spines bear some of those titles. His law library became the foundational library of the U.S. Supreme Court where his adopted son Elias Boudinot Caldwell was the Clerk. He was overjoyed when Yale University awarded him the honorary degree of Doctor of Laws in 1790 – thus joining his respected contemporaries like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and William Livingston in that recognition.

6. Basking Ridge Presbyterian Church and Oak Tree

This landmark has served as a spiritual home for many in the community since its founding in 1717. The adjacent oak tree was a beloved symbol for the church and the town until its removal in 2017 after a 619-year life. A portion of the tree is now displayed at the Ross Farm. Past this ancient oak tree ran the “Morristown-Baskinridge Meeting House Road.” The site saw George Washington’s first visit to Basking Ridge in 1773; the dramatic capture of General Charles
Lee at the tavern up the hill; Washington’s Council on War in May 1777; Continental troops passing through on their way to winter headquarters in 1777 and 1779; and the celebrated march of Count Rochambeau’s French Army to Yorktown in 1781 – and their triumphant return the following year.
Many Revolutionary War veterans are interred in the churchyard, as are dozens of folks who called the Ross Farm home, including families named Morris, Riggs, Lewis, Southard, McEowen, Barkalow, and Cross. The image in the mural depicts the church nearing completion of construction of its new sanctuary in 1832, which replaced the second iteration that had stood since 1749. The wagon in the foreground represents the legacy of Henry Southard, former Private and Wagon master of the Continental Army. He devoutly served the Church as a Ruling Elder and Trustee his entire adult life. He died in his 95th year and was buried underneath the outstretched limbs of the mighty oak next to his beloved Sarah.

7. Elias and Hannah Stockton Boudinot

Elias and Hannah Stockton Boudinot are depicted here with dignity and reserve, typical of portrait sittings in 1783. Their lives had a tremendous impact on American independence, and are a superb model of industriousness, altruistic actions, and faithfulness. In contrast to paint on canvas, their written communications show that their relationship brimmed with love, warmth, humor, profound faith and respect.

8. Susan Vergereau Boudinot

Susan was the only surviving child of Hannah and Elias. They lost their daughter Maria at age two, and Susan was doted on, educated well, and remembered fondly by all who met her. She famously was served tea as a 9 year old in the home of New Jersey Royal Governor Franklin a the time of the colonies’ Stamp Tax boycott. She walked the full cup to the window and dumped it out, telling the governor that she wholeheartedly supported the rebel boycott. She was 11 when her parents brought her and extended family to their country farm in Basking Ridge. She appears to have made a favorable impression on all who met her. George and Martha Washington, her cousins Benjamin (signer of the Declaration of Independence) and Susannah Stockton Rush, and Alexander Hamilton always inquired as to her well-being when writing Elias or Hannah. In 1784 as a 19-year-old beauty, she married Washington’s aide-de-camp Colonel William Bradford of
Philadelphia. He became Attorney General of the United States, but tragically died in 1795. Washington appointed Elias Director of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia so he could relocate there to be with her as she grieved. She never remarried, and lived with and cared for her parents until their deaths. She meticulously organized her father’s papers and belongings, and tended to his sizable philanthropic endeavors through his estate. This included establishing a National History Department at Princeton and funding scholarships for deserving young men. Princeton received the bulk of Boudinot’s life work through Susan’s diligence.

9. Henry and Sarah Lewis Southard

Henry Southard came to Basking Ridge from Long Island as a young boy, He acquired the farm from Elias Boudinot in 1785. Boudinot’s account books indicate that Southard had been responsible for haying a portion of the property for some time prior. Henry would serve eight distinguished terms in the U.S. House of Representatives. Henry’s wife, Sarah Lewis Southard, was a
lifelong resident of Basking Ridge who likely resided on the farm as a child. She is the granddaughter of Daniel and Hannah Morris who build the first modest farmhouse here, and daughter of Edward and Sarah Lewis who sold this farm to Elias Boudinot in 1771. Sarah managed the household and property through the years of war and public service that Henry engaged in. They raised their large family here, including sons Isaac and Samuel.

10. Isaac and Samuel Southard

Two of Sarah’s sons went on to have notable public careers. Isaac served in local and state offices, and also as a U.S. Congressman. Samuel Lewis Southard has a resume like few others: he served multiple non-consecutive terms as U.S. Senator, Secretary of the Navy under two Presidents, Secretary of War, Secretary of the Treasury, Governor of New Jersey, and New Jersey Supreme Court Justice. He maintained a private law practice in Flemington. Samuel was history’s first Cabinet member from New Jersey and many naval historians regard him as the most influential Navy secretary in history. He professionalized and modernized the Navy at the time of the Monroe Doctrine. He built the first U.S. dry docks, the first Naval hospitals, organized detailed mapping of ports and water depth, established a clear chain of command to civilian authority, had the idea of creating a Naval Academy to rival West Point and built new naval bases in key locations. Isaac and Samuel’s portraits honor the international reach of a local family.

11. The Ross Family

Edmund and Margaret Haskell Ross purchased the property in 1952. They raised their family in this home, preserved its history, and passed it on to the public by selling it to Somerset County in 2005. Both Edmund and Margaret came from wealthy families who led glamorous lives. Their attraction stemmed from their mutual love of the outdoors, sports, and a shared passion for all sorts of animals. They chose to live simply on the farm that they loved so much, and not to surround themselves with too many trappings of luxury. Their inclusion in the mural places them firmly in an important lineage of stewardship and legacy.

12. Barn, Tack House and Margaret Ross’s Equestrian Life

Margaret Haskell Ross came from a family steeped in equestrian tradition. This image is based on one of her competitions at Madison Square Garden and honors her love of horses as well as her role in making the farm a loving home and a working property with a deep respect for heritage.

13. USS Southard

The decorated Navy destroyer was launched from the Philadelphia shipyard and named for U.S. Naval Secretary Samuel L, Southard. It sailed in both World War I and World War II and served with distinction in the Pacific Theater, where its steel hull still rests in the waters off Okinawa. Its presence symbolizes the military service and sacrifice performed by members of each of the families our organization derives its name from: Boudinot – Southard – Ross.

14. Edmund B. Ross on Tractor with Dogs

Depicting Edmund “Ned” Ross on his beloved vintage Ford tractor, followed by loyal family dogs as his roosters squawk in the meadow, this whimsical yet heartfelt image captures the daily rhythm of a man who loved and protected the land. Today, visitors to our Holiday Lights Drive-Through get to see this same tractor lit up and on display by the barn.

15. Flag-lined Driveway Welcomes Visitors to the Ross Farm

Thanks to partnerships between Somerset County, Somerset County Parks Commission, Trilogy Repertory and Friends of the Boudinot-Southard-Ross Estate, the Ross Farm hgas become increasingly accessible to the public through a variety of cultural, educational, and historical programs. Somerset County’s stewardship ensures the preservation of this important historic site, and these partnerships have transformed the Ross Farm into a vibrant public space where history, the arts and community spirit thrive.

16. Ross Farm Stage with Musicians and Audience

This panel features the concert stage and a joyful gathering of many musicians who have performed at the Ross Farm. Their names and music have become part of the farm’s living story. Musicians featured here (l-r): Stephen Kellogg, Christian Lopez, Wes Lunsford and Laurel Wright of The Young Fables, Carl Gerhard (Basking Ridge native from Roomful of Blues), Vanessa Collier, Jerry Miller and Jason Beek from Eilen Jewell’s band, Brooks Hubbard, Allison Russell, Jon Lampley from Huntertones, and Eilen Jewell.

17. The Barn Alive with Art, Music and History

Inside the barn, the Joe Cirotti Trio performs while artist Michelle Cirotti paints at her easel with their children playing at her feet. Other children fly kites in the open field. Hank and Jaye Barre of Trilogy Repertory portray Mr. and Mrs. Boudinot sharing history with students. This modern-day scene captures how the Ross Farm continues to inspire creativity, arts, education and community. This whole wall is connected by a breeze-blown Old Glory Flag, uniting the property’s revolutionary past with a hopeful and joyful future.

18. Boudinot’s Giving Garden and Apiary

The mural concludes with a lush view of the Giving Garden and bees at work in the apiary. Volunteers of all ages cultivate food for those in need, proving that the Ross Farm remains a place of service, growth, community and generosity of spirit. Thank you for taking time to explore the mural and the rich history it brings to life. Whether you are a guide, a guest, or a lifelong friend of the Ross Farm, you are now part of the story this place continues to tell.