This photo by James Lloyd Grimstead was found by “Nannygoats” editor Tyreen Reuter at a craft show. The unidentified subjects in the photo were later identified as members of the Second Baptist Church in Metuchen when it was printed in “Nannygoats.” It also led to a man in New York accidentally discovering his mother and uncle pictured in the photo via the “Nannygoats” website. PHOTO BY JAMES LLOYD GRIMSTEAD METUCHEN — Nannygoats drum up images of said animal nibbling on paper, but in the borough of Metuchen, “Nannygoats” actually produces historical newsletters.
The Metuchen Historical Society has put together an indexed compilation of the first 10 years of its “Nannygoats” newsletter, and those interested in reliving 240 pages of snippets from the borough’s history — featured in more than 30 issues printed from 2003 through 2012 — may purchase it online for $25 at www.metuchen-edisonhistsoc.org.
Tyreen Reuter, editor of “Nannygoats” for the past seven years, said the inspiration for the name of the newsletter and book — titled “Nannygoats: The First Decade” — came from James Lloyd Grimstead, an amateur photographer in Metuchen in the 1930s.
“He took thousands of photos of interesting and historic places, and also of entire streets of new houses that were built,” Reuter said. “He also had an interest in history. He kept this file that he called his historical anecdotes, and to be funny, he referred to them as his ‘nannygoats,’ instead of anecdotes. So in honor of the fact that the historical society’s collection is based a lot on his photographs, we decided to call the newsletter ‘Nannygoats.’ ”
Reuter said the goal of the newsletter was not only to provide information on programs, but also to share Grimstead’s photo collections, articles and reminiscences with the public.
“Nannygoats” contains a plethora of information and stories offering a glimpse of the past, from one about a World War II aircraftobserving tower in Metuchen and the volunteers who manned it to spot German bomber planes, to an entire issue on the history of firefighting in Metuchen, created to coincide with a commemorative event honoring firefighters on the 100th anniversary of a local firefighter’s death.
Original articles are also included in the publication, including a history of Metuchen written by the Metuchen High School class of 1931 for their senior class project.
Issues of “Nannygoats” also included reproductions of pages from the 1928 Directory of Metuchen.
“It had the old phone numbers such as ‘Miss Eliza Anderson, Metuchen 269R,’ ” Reuter said. “It’s kind of interesting, because some of them are still family names that are around now, like the Breen family.
“Some streets are named after some of the people in the directory, too.”
Reuter said that although the newsletters can be viewed online, this indexed compilation — the brainchild of Historical Society Board Member Byron Sondergard — is helpful in finding items that were written about in the newsletter. A bonus CD that comes with the book includes a text-searchable feature. The CD also includes a transcription of the 1928 Directory of Metuchen, the 1940 Census Metuchen Street Indexes and a 1954 map of Raritan Township, as well as a story from 1898 titled “Why Metuchen is a Desirable Town.”
Reuter said “Nannygoats” has historical tidbits that don’t appear in other books, such as the mystery of the origins of the bell at St. James Church on Woodbridge Avenue in Edison.
“It appears to be a Spanish bell that predates the construction of the church,” Reuter said. “It was interesting to try to figure out how this Spanish bell ended up inside this Anglican church.”
Stories printed in “Nannygoats” first indicated that the bell was of English origin. But the newsletter reported in the summer 2006 issue that when volunteers climbed into the belfry to photograph the bell, the dimensions and shape appeared not English, but more akin to those found in old Spanish missions in the American Southwest.
The mystery of the bell continued as “Nannygoats” reached out to the public for any Spanish bell historians to help identify its true origins.
Reuter noted that the newsletter is often used to drum up historical stories from the public.
“It’s a great way to go fishing for local history when people respond and share their recollections,” Reuter said.
Not long ago, Reuter, a professional historian with a focus on historic architecture, found a photo by Grimstead at a craft show.
“It [was] a photo of 25 to 30 African Americans posed in their Sunday best,” Reuter said. “We put it in our newsletter, and someone knew every person in the picture [came forward], with the exception of a few. One was her grandfather, and she knew it was the Second Baptist Church picture.”
Shortly thereafter, Reuter got a message from a New Yorker who had been searching the Internet for information about an old actress who lived in the area, and came upon the photo in “Nannygoats.” He was surprised to find that his mother and uncle had been identified in the photo.
Reuter said the entire situation was interesting.
“History geeks like us get all excited about this stuff,” he said.
The “Nannygoats” newsletter averages eight to 10 pages, is published three times a year, and is mailed or emailed to historical society members. Issues are also shared with other historical societies and libraries, and copies are left at all Metuchen and Edison libraries. Newsletters are also available on the historical society’s website at www.metuchen-edisonhistsoc.org.