Senior Moments

Putting a local spin on history

By Norm Oshrin
   Mr. Belding builds his dream project.
   That old-fashioned, familiar clickety-clack sound some residents from Monroe Township’s Rossmoor adult community were hearing sporadically from Edward Belding’s home at 330 Nantucket from 2003-2006 was Mr. Belding diligently pecking away at his Olympia manual typewriter.
   He was building a unique, ambitious history-writing project on the Revolutionary War.
   It is one which continues today for the 64-year-old educator — but now strictly from his home in the Kendall Park section of South Brunswick.
   And one in which Cranbury will be a primary focus in the coming year.
   ”I was going to retire and live there (Rossmoor),” explained Mr. Belding, reflecting on his short-time would-be retirement. “But then my plans didn’t work out.” Family considerations intervened. “So, I stuck with my job,” he explained — teaching history, current events and sociology at New Brunswick High School and working as the school’s archivist.
   ”I did a lot of writing and typing in Rossmoor,” he said. “I used it as a study, spreading all my stuff” — the “stuff” resulting in a myriad of booklets recounting details of specific events and battles in New Jersey during the Revolutionary War.
   And all of it in verse form, with Mr. Belding – who earned a bachelor’s degree in history and master’s degree in education from Rutgers University — combining his two loves: “a love of history and writing poetry. I combine creative writing with the study of history.”
   The works bear such titles as “Stryker’s Gambit” (Captain John Stryker’s 20-man force taking on 200 of General George Cornwallis’ men in early January, 1777); “Nightwork” (the march of Washington’s army from Trenton to Princeton, during the same first days of January); “The Broken Bridge” (The Millstone River Bridge at Kingston, crossed by Washington’s troops pursued by Cornwallis); and “We Remember” (the battle of Princetown.)
   Mr. Belding plans out his research-writing routine in meticulous fashion.
   ”I do most of my writing when I’m off,” he said. “Getting things set to write from January to May. Then, in June, I start getting the structure of what I want to write.”
   It’s his customary MO.
   Mr. Belding intends to begin his research in early January into Cranbury’s role in the Revolutionary War, after completing his work on “The 2nd Battle of Trenton.” Then, he said, “I will do a rough draft of poems on this battle in the late spring and start a final draft in June-July.
   ”I will type up the notes and complete the cover design, maps, etc., during the summer. Then I will print 100-200 copies for friends, relatives and associates in early autumn.”
   ”By year’s end, I’ll be ready to tackle ‘The Cranbury Skirmish’ (aka ‘Cranberry Skirmish’),” he said.
   As with his other history writings, it will take probably a year to research and record.
   ”When I do research, I dig up a lot of local historical sources, old newspaper accounts, getting a local flavor on what happened in the big events,” he explained.
   Except for an occasional lecture fee, Mr. Belding’s ongoing, open-ended project is a pure labor of love – one for which he does not earn a cent, encouraging only donations to historical societies and the like along the way.
   In his spare time, Mr. Belding’s affinity for poetry takes other forms, unrelated to the Revolutionary War. Copies of these literary works — many dealing with the environment, nature, et al — are laid out on a table in the living room of his home, bearing such titles as: “The Grass Tattoo,” “One Seedling, One Stone,” “The Tree Window,” “(Ecole de Frottage,” “Woodlarks…and uttermost fowl,” “The Crowd of Owls.”
   One of his more formidable poetic efforts came in 2006 in celebrating New Brunswick High School’s winning of the NJSIAA Central Group II football championship. Titled “Won by Seven/Poem of Champions,” it was signed by “Ed. Belding, archivist for NBHS” – and earned wide accolades.
   Mr. Belding – who also played baseball at Rutgers – is not averse to his literary efforts being recognized, acknowledged and publicized in the outside world.
   But he isn’t pushing it. Instead, he has been sharing them solely with family and friends – all at his expense.
   His greatest satisfaction, Mr. Belding said, would be “getting schools to use them in courses; a cross-discipline of literature and history (with) an English teacher and social studies teacher.”
   As for retirement, it could be next June.
   Even back at Rossmoor.
   ”We loved it there,” he said, of he and his wife, Florence.
Everyone has a story to tell about then and now. What’s yours? If you, a neighbor, friend, relative wants to share a tale, please contact Mr. Oshrin at [email protected] or 609-409-4384.