LIVING HISTORY AT THE DESERTED VILLAGE OF FELTVILLE
FOUR CENTURIES IN A WEEKEND 2026
Our annual celebration of Four Centuries in a Weekend at the Deserted Village of Feltville gave us more and more living history! There were more characters on hand, mostly from the colonial and revolutionary era (for America’s 250th Anniversary). We had more of our wonderful research team on hand—archaeologists, historians, reenactors, or some combination of the above.
And lots of show and tell! The archaeological artifacts from years of the Feltville Archaeology Project have come home, and our fabulous archaeologists, Matt Tomaso and Carissa Scarpa were on hand to introduce visitors to their findings.
Reenactor Tim Bernier provided a full set of the historically accurate clothing of an eighteenth century man—don’t worry, he had another full set as he greeted visitors as John Willcocks in his customary spot in the cemetery. I was likely entirely too gleeful as I explained the fact that no one was wearing underwear at the time.
My main contributions were a display on one of the village’s three known Revolutionary War soldiers—William Willcocks. Unlike his brother John who was a soldier, and who died as a result of his service, in 1776, William served the patriot cause as a lawyer—one of a new institution created by George Washington called Judge Advocates, who prosecuted court martials and provided other military justice.
This post tries to give you a small part of the fun we had all working together this year. Click on the links below to view pictures and information that I hope will knock your knickers off.
- William Willcocks—a military and civil lawyer in the Revolution’s most dangerous state
- John Willcocks—in the flesh in the cemetery and represented in the clothing of an eighteenth-century colonial.
- The archaeological record—literally ground truthing the history of the village, brought to life through the work of Matt Tomaso and Carissa Scarpa.
- Our biggest cast of characters ever, mostly colonial, but how could we leave out our later artist, Roberto de la Selva?
- Touring and enjoying the village!