In September 2016, Winifred Carryl Harris contributed the original cradle used by Joseph Kingsland Sr. (1740 – 1821) and Mary Outwater Kingsland (1757 – 1829). Winifred Carryl is the only daughter of Frederick Kingsland Carryl (1880 – 1963) and Irene Winifred Nutt (1892 – 1985). Her grandfather was Joseph Kingsland III (1813 – 1899), and her grandmother was Margaret Mary Stuart (1825 – 1910).

Joseph Sr. received a contract to install curbing on the streets of New York City. Curbing at that time was made of wood. Joseph found an ample supply of wood in Nutley, known as North Belleville at the time. A local lumber mill was owned by two brothers, John and James Walls. James needed a home, so the brothers cut the lumber at the mill, assembled the pieces and numbered each with Roman numerals, took them apart, and rebuilt the house where the Kingsland Manor stands today.

Joseph Sr. purchased the home from James Walls in 1787. He, and his wife, Mary, and five of his eight children moved into the updated farmhouse in 1796. Joseph spent the prior years improving the house by raising the ceilings and plastering the walls to make it acceptable to Mary. He did all this while he completed his contract with the city. The three children who did not move into the home were ‘of majority’ by the time the work was completed. They were Isaac Joseph (married 1794), Henry Joseph (left in charge of the NYC properties), and Hannah (married 1796).

Joseph and Mary had their last child, a son named Benjamin, on October 8th, 1800. Benjamin and all his siblings were rocked to sleep in this cradle. The cradle was most likely manufactured in New Brunswick, New Jersey, in around 1773. It is made of cherry wood and has developed a lovely dark patina over the past 247 years. The maximum dimensions are: 25 inches high with the rocker rails, 45 inches long, and 18 inches wide. The cradle is displayed in the Children’s Bedroom.

Prior to receiving the original cradle, Trust member Leon Kish built a reproduction cradle using pictures, measurements, and cardboard cutouts of the original cradle. That cradle, also made of cherry wood, is displayed in the Master Bedroom.