Museum Piece: Historical Society Preserves Fort Lee Girl's Hope Chest from 1800s

An item currently on display at the tells the story of one of the oldest Fort Lee families as seen through the eyes of a 14-year-old girl. It also helps tell the story of the role the museum plays in preserving Fort Lee’s historical past.

Born in 1851, Eliza Ann Rutter, was the daughter of Joseph and Eliza Rutter. The Rutters lived in the Coytesville section of Fort Lee and operated a thriving bottling plant there from the 1800s into the mid-1900s.

Several years ago, the Fort Lee resident Richard Rutter, the last surviving member of the Rutter family, donated Eliza Ann’s “hope chest” to the Fort Lee Museum before retiring to North Carolina. Before making the move out of state, Richard Rutter gave members of the Fort Lee Historical Society access to his Coytesville home, allowing them to take whatever they wanted for the collection, but suggesting specifically they take a hope chest that belonged to young Eliza Ann, one of his relatives.

The hope chest currently on display at the museum contains items the girl collected in her youth. Also displayed in the same glass case alongside the hope chest are bottles and labels produced by the Rutter family business over many years.

Because Eliza Ann Rutter died at the age of just 14 in 1865, all of the items in her hope chest date back to the late 1850s and the early 1860s.

“That’s probably one of the most amazing pieces we have,” said Fort Lee Cultural & Heritage Affairs Administrator Tom Meyers, adding that the piece has been particularly popular with visiting girl scouts, who are often permitted to put on gloves and handle some of the items in the hope chest.

“We tell them that this is what a young lady in Fort Lee in the 1860s thought was important to her back in the day,” Meyers said. “And they’re all amazed by it.”

The museum rarely displays the hope chest. The last time it was on display, Meyers said, was at least three years ago. Normally it’s kept in the museum’s upstairs area, where it can be properly preserved.

Meyers said the piece helps illustrate not only a piece of Fort Lee’s history, but the importance of having a physical museum.

“If we didn’t have a physical museum, [the hope chest] would probably would be sitting somewhere in North Carolina,” Meyers said. “And, god forbid, if Rich Rutter passed away, it could end up going to a garage sale. Somebody could just end up having it as a curiosity piece in North Carolina. Or worse yet, it could end up in the trash. Because we have a museum here, it’ll be permanently housed and archived here.”

The Fort Lee Museum recently expanded its hours to include Wednesday nights from 7 to 9 p.m. It is also open Saturdays and Sundays from noon to 4 p.m. and open to school groups by appointment.