LAMBERTVILLE: Lindbergh events dominate calendar for 300th celebration

By John Tredrea, Special Writer
   The most heroic figure in American history?
   In the minds of some, it could still be aviator Charles Lindbergh, who made the first non-stop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927.
   The most famous trial in American history? It could still be the Lindbergh baby kidnapping trial, held in the historic Hunterdon County Courthouse on Main Street, Flemington, in 1935.
   Scheduled for April and early next month by the Hunterdon Tricentennial Committee are a number of events revolving around Mr. Lindbergh and the kidnapping case that was an international news event called the “trial of the century” at the time.
   The demand to attend tricentennial events continues to be high, and several of April’s events, including a tour of the Lindbergh home and important sites in the kidnapping case, are already sold out.
   To order tickets, call the Tricentennial Committee at 908-788-2030 or visit the website www.hunterdon300th.org.
   ”The best way for people to find out about events is to sign up for our blog or other social media on the home page of our website, www.hunterdon300th.org,” said Tricentennial chairperson Marcia Karrow. “If they don’t want to do that, they can monitor our website daily to see when tickets become available, but there is advance notice via social media and it is the best way to find out about all of our events plus special things that will be happening.”
   Ms. Karrow added: “If people don’t have email, we do hold back a small percentage of tickets for walk ins to our headquarters, The Flemington Choir School (3 Chorister Place, Flemington), which is open every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.”
   On Tuesday, April 22, at the historic county courthouse on Main Street, Flemington — site of the 1935 trial that drew worldwide attention — “Lindbergh Biography, Part I: The Early Years” will be featured in a one-hour PowerPoint by East Amwell author and historian Jim Davidson.
   It will focus on Lindbergh’s early aviation career as a barnstormer and air mail pilot culminating in his design of the airplane “ The Spirit of St. Louis,” which he flew as the first solo pilot to Paris.
   On his 80-city celebratory tour, he met Anne Morrow. They married, returned to New Jersey and built Highfields on the Sourland Mountain, where baby Charles Jr. was abducted in March 1932.
   At the same location the next day, Mr. Davidson will discuss “Part II: The Darker Years,” of the kidnapping, the trial, the allegations of his Nazi sympathies and his later years away from the probing public.
   On Sunday, April 27, at the same courthouse, “Mayhem on the Mountain: The Sourlands and the Lindbergh Kidnapping” will be presented by Mr. Davidson. He’ll give a one-hour talk on the early stages of the Lindbergh kidnapping and its effect on the Sourland Mountains and town of Hopewell.
   Mr. Davidson will cover from the time the Lindberghs settled on buying the property on the mountain to the night when Charles Jr. was taken from his crib. Mr. Davidson will follow the course of events from Hopewell becoming the epicenter of world news until the baby was found dead just outside of town in May.
   On Tuesday, April 29, at the courthouse, the contemplation of the Lindbergh saga will continue with “Flemington during the Lindbergh trial.”
   On Thursday, May 1, at 7 p.m. “12 Theories Who Kidnapped The Lindbergh Baby” will be discussed at the old courthouse. On April 3, 1936, Bruno Richard Hauptmann was executed in the New Jersey State Prison in Trenton for the murder.
   Beginning in the 1960s historians reexamined the circumstantial evidence used to incriminate Mr. Hauptmann, as well as new evidence. There are people today who think that Hauptmann was totally innocent or only slightly involved.
   Mr. Davidson will present 12 other theories, including that Charles Lindbergh himself staged the kidnapping; Al Capone was involved; a disbarred attorney, Paul Wendell from Trenton, kidnapped the baby, and even Anne Lindbergh’s family was involved.
   The county courthouse where Bruno Hauptmann was tried and convicted for kidnapping the Lindbergh baby will be the scene of actor Steve Carroll’s one-man show, “Charles Lindbergh: The Lone Eagle,” on May 3 and May 4.
   Prior to attending the one-man show, the Flemington United Methodist Church invites strolls down the block and through its cemetery at 116 Main St. from 3 to 6:30 p.m. May 3. You can learn the 1856 church’s role during the trial hosting the attorneys, press and other key players for dinners and a break from the stress of the days’ activities. John Newton of Flemington will share and discuss a display of historic documents and other artifacts, including the china on which they dined.
   Mr. Newton played the role of Charles Lindbergh for 14 years in a re-enactment of the trial and can answer questions and share information from the original trial transcripts.
   Other upcoming tercentenary events:
   • Through Sunday, April 13: Historic quilt display, “Common Threads: Quilting Traditions in Hunterdon County.” An exhibition of quilts in the Assembly Room of the County Building on Route 12 in Raritan Township is open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day.
   • Saturday, April 12, at 10 a.m.: Apgar family historian George Apgar details the German Palantine migration into Hunterdon County that began in the 17th century and settlement patterns. North County Library Headquarters, Halstead Street, Clinton. Refreshments follow.
   • Sunday, April 13, at 2 p.m.: Join historian David Blackwell of Hopewell for a lecture about the Revolutionary War routes General Washington’s Army made through Hunterdon’s Amwell Valley and surrounding hills on their way to the Battle of Monmouth. He’ll offer the words of the soldiers who made that journey in June 1778. Refreshments follow.
   • At 7 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at the historic courthouse in Flemington, poetry buffs will enjoy “Ode to Hunterdon: Hunterdon County through the eyes and words of Hunterdon’s poets.”
   • Saturday and Sunday, April 26-27, at 2 p.m.: Take a walking tour led by the Lambertville Historical Society. Meet at the Lambertville Station restaurant, 11 Bridge St.
   Sign up for tours at the Historical Society, 62 Bridge St.; call 609-397-0770 or via email [email protected]. Free. Donations welcomed.