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The Essex Hunt Club and the Essex Fox Hounds
Research
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Charles Pfizer Jr. master of the Essex Hounds and person who brought the Essex Hunt Club to the Somerset Hills. |
EFH Points of Interest (Yesterday and Today) - View Larger Map |
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Essex Hunt Club - Peapack
The Essex Hunt Club is a fox-hunting club that evolved into two private clubs, the Essex Fox Hounds, which still hunts, and the Essex Hunt Club, a winter recreational club on a property of more than 100 acres that uses an ice rink for figure skating and hockey. Masters of Foxhounds Association of North America is the sanctioning body in the US for what the organization entitled the Essex Fox Hounds, that was spun from the original Essex Hunt Club. |
John Gilbert - 2007 Professional Huntsman
Essex Hunt Club (Pictured Rendered Above) |
On the porch of the Lower Kennels circa 1895 associates and members of the Essex Hunt Club. Seymore Cromwell is standing on the porch (far left) and Guerdon Maynard on the far right. Mrs. Pfizer is seated in the center of the steps with her daughter Lulu (on her left), and Jack Wilmerding (on her right) Florence Jones (in white) is seated on the post and Charles Pfizer, master of the Essex Hunt, is standing beside her (Photo is from the James S. Jones collection). |
Background:
The Somerset HIlls, the term coined to reference a similar area south of London, England was for a time one of the most exclusive and prestigeous areas in the country. Those who had amassed large fortunes began to aquire large blocks of land to persue their love of equine sport throughout the Somerset Hills hamlets of Peapack, Gladstone, Bedminster, Basking Ridge, Far Hills and Bernardsville. The most notable of the sporting community were invloved in the sport of foxhunting, a sport rich in tradition and in line with their well developed aristocrat society. The club was the Essex Hunt Club, tracing back to the Essex County Country Club of present day Montclair, which was noted as the country's first country club. This article looks back at the history of one of the most prominent clubs, the Essex Hunt Club, that was arguebably the single greatest reason for the wealthy moving to the Somerset Hills. Come look back at the rich history of the people and the area, and also learn more of the challenges that are facing the equine sporting community and the area today.
History - Might want to find out about "Diary of The Master" It's normally a book kept by the Master listing events.
Have discussion with Betty Merck (Joint Master) or Bob Graft (Betty Merck might be the same person in the photo in the Bedminster History book and was Councilwoman for a number of years as well).
See other Questions - Click Here
The Essex Hunt Club continues much as it did a century ago. "You better not ask the Master if we drag hunt," said a woman who answered the phone at the Essex Fox Hounds Hunt in Peapack, N.J. (where Mrs. Onassis hunted). "It simply isn't done here." (NY Times 1996)
The sport can be traced back almost three millennia, to the time of the Assyrians. Hounds were bred for stag hunting in the eighth century by the French nobility and were imported to England by the French after the Norman Conquest of 1066. By the end of the 17th century, fox hunting had replaced stag hunting in England, and foxes have been chased ever since.
According to "Foxhunting in North America," by Alexander Mackay-Smith, the first mention of fox hunting in this country came in the 18th century, in parts of Virginia and in Chestertown, Md., where local planters imported red foxes from England. George Washington, who was an avid fox hunter on his Mount Vernon plantation, kept the best surviving record of American fox hunting during the 18th century.
For a successful hunt with a pack of dogs, the chain of links between the hunter and the dogs and between the dogs and the victim should not be broken. Thus sabbing concentrates on breaking those links.
At the start, the lead dog will find and follow the victim by scent. At this stage, it may be possible to distract from the scent of the real victim (with items such as fox urine, bedding, and/or feces freshly taken from your nearest wildlife hospital or sanctuary) or to mask his or her scent with strong smells (e.g. diluted citronella or eucalyptus smells or anti-mate sprays).
False trails are generally laid either before the hunt arrives (if you know where they will go) or while they "draw" or seek out a new victim. The trail is laid in line, along hedgerows and the edge of the woods, ideally in a large circle around the immediate vicinity of the hunt.
The technique of masking scents is best used when sabbers can both see the victim flee and manage to be on his or her trail before the hounds arrive. In this case, it is important NOT to mask the trail in a line, but to cover a whole area, as a human hunter following the dogs will immediately take the hounds past you and onto the proper line again.
Another very effective way to break the link between dogs and quarry is to crack dog whips in the air to get the hounds to stop chasing. Hunters do this if the dogs follow the wrong quarry, and they are well trained to respond to such commands. Hence cracking whips doesn't just save the particular victim, but also serves to confuse the hounds so they will not know which animal to follow. Also, if done repeatedly and aggressively enough in the right time and the right place, whip cracking will easily halt the pack.
http://www.huntsab.org/fox.htm
The exciting sport of foxhunting is really “fox chasing.” The hounds locate the scent of a fox and follow it, “speaking”, or barking, until the scent dissipates or the fox becomes tired and goes “to ground” in his den. The field of riders follows the hounds as closely as possible without interfering with the hounds or the fox.
Hunting is different every day as the fox and scent determine the pace of the day. Riders may jump fences or find a way around, followed a cleared path or go through the woods, always led by the “field master” familiar with the territory and the hounds.
The Members of The Amwell Valley Hunt come from New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania, and all share this outdoor activity regardless of their varied, diverse backgrounds. There are also members, known as patrons or supporters who do not hunt but partake in the various social functions such as the Hunt Ball, Hunt Breakfast, Hunter pace, and opening day activities. The Essex Hunt Club also has such an organization called the "Friends of the Essex Hunt Club".
Fox Hunting can involve the entire family, couples, or “one of a pair”, or singles. It is by no means a competitive event, but simply a means of having fun with other people who share in the common bond of horses, hounds and the great outdoors. Visitors are always welcome to join with us in this fine traditional sport.
The children of Condict and Hugh Hyde (Brooke Goode) , the Lamington Conservancy and the New Jersey Conservation Foundation cooperated in the effort to preserve the property, which includes both forests and fields.
http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070821/NEWS01/708210346
John Gilbert - Professional Huntsman
Alexandra Allen - MFH - Field Master - Master of the Hounds (Director - Lamington Conservancy)
Eileen ? - Hounds Caretaker
Leslie Chander - Assisting Handler (grew up in Westfield, works on a farm in Oldwick)
Diane Holtaway - Publicity for Essex Fox Hounds and Head of Somerset Hills Bridal Path Association
22 Laura Lane, Bedminster, New Jersey 07921 908-218-0733 dholtaway@cs.com
Recorded message for the Essex Fox Hounds (fixture card updates) - 908-234-0780
- Friends of the Essex Fox Hounds - (non-riding associates of the EFH)
- Dogs are kept at what's known as the Peapack Kennel which is directly behind the Essex Hunt Club.
- John Gilbert does partner the EFH with the Tewksbury Foot Bassets (Basseting). There are over 100 hounds at the EHC. 18 couples (36 total) go out at any one time.
- Saturday, October 27, 2007 - Open Meet (Switchover to more formal traditional wear)
Starts at 10am at Spook Hollow Farm
- Annual Thanksgiving Meet - Big Event Allistand (Ellistand) two lefts after where the Oct 27th event is held. Normally a very big event.
- Terms: Fixture Card, "See hounds off"
- Gretchen Johnson (J&J Family wrote book about history) $200?
- The Essex Fox Hounds: A Look Through Time. published in 2004.
- Tewksbury Foot Bassets go out Sunday's at 2pm (Late October thru March) and hunt rabbits
- October 16 (Tuesday and Thursday) at 8:30am at Carden Hayfields - 1/4 mile past previous event. Long Land Turn Right on Spook Hollow Road. About 1 mile on Rights (Be there at 8:15 am cause by 8:30am they're gone
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The Clubhouse of the Lower Kennel, Gladstone, NJ
Room on the left was added for parties and dinners,
Guests would also stay overnight.
Clubhouse burned down in 1912 and was not rebuilt.
7 Jackson Ave. Gladstone _ look into other outbuildings
was referred to by R. Thomson - Lower Kennel maybe? |
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February 10, 1913
At
offices of Moore & Schley in NYC the Essex Fox Hounds committee
meets, where Freddie Bull (owned Greenacres Estate in Bedminster-Turpin)
is unanimously elected President. The new Hunt Club is separated from the Essex Hunt Club and the Essex Fox Hounds is created. They sign a
three year lease for Pfizer Jr's 128 acre "John S. Miller
farm" at Peapack and the old Miller house is remodeled as
the new clubhouse. While this picture shows an actual hunt in
1916, the building in the background is "The Club House".
Each trustee pays $100 to join the Board. Trustees were: Percy
R. Pyne, Clarence B. Mitchell, Kenneth Schley, George Messervy,
Ogden Hammond, R. H. Williams, Jr., Arthur Turnbull, William Larned,
Seymour Cromwell, Arthur Whitney, Fred W. Jones, Ben. Nicoll,
W. S. Richardson, Arthur Fowler, and Charles Pfizer. (Arthur Fowler
is the first Secretary, and Seymour Cromwell is appointed Chair) |
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November thru February: Three Hunts a week (Monday, Wednesday's, Saturday).Fox is not killed as it is in England. The private pack is owned by "Subscribers", and run on different "members" land. |
The best booklet to consult is "Riding to Hounds in America: An Introduction for Foxhunters," by William P. Wadsworth. It can be ordered by calling The Chronicle of the Horse magazine at 1-540-687-6341; its price is $2.50. Send a check to Gloria at Chronicle of the Horse PO Box 46, Middleburg, VA 20118. Mention the title in the request.
- Masters - (MFH) - (amateur or professional) Overall command of the hunt
- Secretary -
- Whipers -ins (whips) - (amateur or professional)
- Huntsman - (amateur or professional) Controls the hounds. Only person to give orders to the whips.
- Kennel Huntsman -
- The field master -
- The Field - mounted followers
- They are hounds not dogs.
- They are counted as "couples" (two hounds)
- The group is called the "pack"
- Male Hounds are called dog hounds.
- Female Hounds are called bitches.
- A hounds has a stern instead of a tail.
- A hound never barks...they "open","give tongue","throw their tongue" or "speak"
- Hacking - ridiing your horse to a Hunt.
- Nose- the ability to detect and interpret the scent of a fox
- Cry - volume and quality of the voiuce while giving tongue
- Drive - the urege to get forward on the line
- Stamina
- Speed
- whelped - born (preferrably in the Spring)
- Out to Walk - first stages of early development
- Trained for pack dicipline - after the walk phase.
- Red or Grey
- Normally has a few square miles to search for food, but it's home area is much smaller.
- Hunts at night. Sleeps during day.
- Prefers to sleep in grass or leaves, but also enjoys a former woodchuck hole.
- Principal diet is field mice, but eats anything from beetles to chickens.
- Sudden turns after going straight (confuses hounds) is called "breaks in the line".
- Seems to know what doesn't hold their scent (roads, tree trunks, fences, cart paths, railroad tracks.
- Some could point up to 15 miles before resting.
- "Going to ground" - going underground.
- Fox sometimes like to follow deer, just to confuse the scent.
- IF you see a fox that is not being tracked by the pack, stand on the line, point your horse in the direction of the line, and notify the master (quietly if possible).
- If you can't find the huntsman, yell "Tally-ho over". Don't say "view halloa" which would bring the hounds. If the hounds are hunting, (the intended fox), don't disturb.
- If the huntsman believes that the hounds are running "riot" they blow a long, even, and slightly sour note on the horn.
- Gone away note on the horn" - (series of short and long blasts __ __ .. __ , __ __ . .__ , will bring any tail hounds out of covert on the dead run.
- Under no circumstances ride along the line of the fox or the hounds.
- Slow wavering blow of the horn which is the signal for the end of the day.
- Tip: If a mounted rider hols his head up with one and while holding the other forearm hroizontal behind their back, it's a signal that their horse kicks.
- Source : Major W. Austin Wadsworth, founder and first MFH (1876-1917) of the Genesee Valley Hunt. Writer of the Hunt Bible.
The best booklet to consult is "Riding to Hounds in America: An Introduction for Foxhunters," by William P. Wadsworth. It can be ordered by calling The Chronicle of the Horse magazine at 1-540-687-6341; its price is $2.50. Send a check to Gloria at Chronicle of the Horse PO Box 46, Middleburg, VA 20118. Mention the title in the request.
The estate, 1,200 acres just west of Leesburg, Virginia off Rt. 7 on Old Waterford Road, was home to two governors: Thomas Swann, a governor of Maryland in the 19th century, and Virginia's reform governor Westmoreland Davis. Morven Park was the last home of Governor Davis, who served his gubernatorial term from 1918 to 1922, and his wife, the former Marguerite Inman of Atlanta, daughter of a wealthy New York cotton broker. Thirteen years after his death in 1942, Mrs. Davis established the Westmoreland Davis Memorial Foundation as a memorial to her husband and the estate was opened to the public in 1967.
In The Somerset Hills Vol 1 and Vol 2
A Journey thru Peapack and Gladstone
In the Somerset Hills, The Landed Gentry
908-234-0780 John Gilbert and EFH telephone service.
Telephone Discussion - Monday, October 16, 2007
Google Search Terms
- Other Hunt Clubs
- Meadowbrook Hunt Club
- Rockaway Hunt Club
- Whippany River Club - Morristown
- Essex County Hunt Club
- Essex County Country Club
- Essex Fox Hounds
- Basseting, Beagling vs. The Steeplechase -
- Essex Fox Hounds Research, Far Hills, Charles Pfizer Jr, Master of the Essex Fox Hounds, Somerset Hills Bridle Path Association,
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