Recommended Books

The following books are recommended by our volunteers. Some may be difficult to find. If you need assistance, please do not hesitate to contact us.

  • Geraldine Rockefeller Dodge 

    by Barbara J. Mitnick (2000)

    The book is a biography with Mrs. Dodge's early life, family life with Marcellus Dodge, as a dog fancier, her philanthropy work and her last years.

  • Lincoln's White House Secretary 

    edited by Harold Holzer (2007)

    The adventurous life of one time Madison resident William O. Stoddard. This edited 1907 autobiography sheds light on Lincoln.

  • The Uncertain Revolution 

    by John T. Cunningham

    A hardcover book tells of the forgotten winters in Middlebrook and Morristown and of their critical importance to the course of the war.

  • Bottle Hill and Madison: Glimpses and Reminiscences From Its Earliest Settlement to the Civil War 

    by William Parkhurst Tuttle. (1916)

    See index

  • Images of America - Madison 

    by John T. Cunningham

    A paperback full of pictures of Madison's history from its founding in about 1740, including the rose growing industry, Drew University, and the Dodge family. See index

  • Images of America - Chatham

    by John T. Cunningham

  • Images of America - Chatham Township

    by John T. Cunningham

    The paperback is full of pictures of Chatham Township's history from its founding in 1806, including the Gibbons horse farm, Madame Bey's training camp for prizefighters, and the Great Swamp.

  • Images of America - Mansions of Morris County

    by John W. Rae

    A paperback full of pictures of the mansions on Madison Avenue, Harding and Morris Townships, scattered in surrounding areas,  clubs founded by and for the wealthy, and how it all ended.

  • New Jersey Goes to War: Biographies of 150 New Jerseyans Caught Up in the Civil War by Joseph G. Bilby (2010)

    by Joseph G. Bilby (2010)

    Biographies of 150 New Jerseyans caught up in the struggle of the civil war, including soldiers, civilians, men, women, heroes, scoundrels and a heroic horse.  A Madison resident is included.

  • The Civil War Journal of Private Heyward Emmell

    edited by Jim Malcolm (2017)

    Heyward Emmell witnessed and recorded all the major battles of the Army of Potomac from the Peninsula Campaign to Gettysburg to the Siege of Petersburg as a stretcher bearer in the ambulance corps.

  • Hidden New Jersey

    by Linda Barth, illustrated by Hazel Mitchell (2011)

    A seek-and-search book for young and old.  Double-page spreads are jam-packed with colorful illustrations of the people, places, inventions, and attractions in New Jersey.  Readers are encouraged to explore a little more and find hidden pictures in each illustration.

  • Crossroads of the American Revolution: A Guide to New Jersey’s American Revolutionary War Sites

    by New Jersey Historical Commission (2008)

    Spiral bound soft cover, illustrated introduction to the buildings, battlefields and encampment sites whose stories contribute to our understanding of New Jersey's role in the birth of the nation.

  • Images of America -Craftsman Farms

    by Heather E. Stivison

    Pictures of the country estate of father of the American Arts & Crafts Movement, Gustav Stickley designed and built himself.  New Jersey National Historic Landmark.

  • Images of America - Florham Park

    by John T. Cunningham

    A richly illustrated volume show views of the borough's distinctive, turn-of-the-centry kerosene lanterns, the large ice-cutting industry, first years of the fire department and early farming families.

  • Images of America - Morristown

    by Joan M. Williams

    Pictures take the reader into the quiet back streets and some of the old buildings giving a hint of what Morristown was like in the past.

  • Images of America - Summit

    by Patricia E. Meola

    Some of the nearly 200 old postcard images that were sent to friends and relations by early summer inhabitants  show the changes from a pastoral town of farms and rolling hills to seasonal residents to a populated suburb of Manhattan.

Additional Titles:

Always With Us by John J. Dunne and others on the Madison War Memorial Book Committee (1998)

Caring for Your Historic House ed. by Heritage Preservation and the National Park Service (1998)

College of Saint Elizabeth by Mary Ellen Gleason, SC and others (1999) 

Drew University by John T. Cunningham and Regina Deverio (2000)

Golden Age of Dog Shows, Morris and Essex Kennel Club: 1927-1957 by Debra Lampert Rudman (2015)

History of Inventing in New Jersey by Linda Barth (2013)

Madison The Rose City: A New Springtime ed. by Woody Kerkeslager, photography by Don Mullan (2016)

The Madison Heritage Trail by Frank J. Esposito and others (1985)

Memories Entwined With Roses by Ruth Pierson Churchill (1984)

Postcard History Series:

           Morristown by Bonnie Lynn-Nedzeika (2012)

Saint Vincent Martyr Parish, 200 Years of History by Michael P. Riccards (2005) 

University in the Forest: The Story of Drew University by John T. Cunningham (2002)