Rural Awareness Inc., a Franklin Township, N.J. nonprofit, announced Philip Fleming as the recipient of the 2021 Hiram Deats Award. Fleming is a 21-year resident of Sunnyside.
The Hiram Deats Award was created by Rural Awareness in 2000 to recognize Franklin residents who exemplify outstanding practices of conservation, agriculture or community service. It’s named in honor of Hiram Deats (1810-1887), a Franklin resident who manufactured plows and other farm implements that made significant contributions to 19th century agriculture.
In awarding the honor, Rural Awareness President Elizabeth Shaw said Fleming was chosen in recognition of his important contribution to the history of Franklin. He documented the township’s oldest structure, a stone house built in 1729 and its grist/saw mill that no longer stands.
Fleming’s newly published 86-page book, “1729 Pre-Revolutionary King’s Mill,” details all aspects of life on the property, including the wills of the original residents, their possessions, their house, and the mill they ran.
In his two-year research for the book, Fleming uncovered three new points of history: Franklin’s long unidentified 1854 Sunnyside schoolhouse, an itinerate artist’s 1848 painting of King’s Mill and its residents, and a stone surveyor’s marker.
“My long hours of research have revealed an inspiring story about brave people in a fascinating place who achieved the American Dream almost 300 years ago,” said Fleming.
Fleming is donating copies of the book to the county libraries. Personal copies can be purchased from the Hunterdon County Historical Society in Flemington, N.J.
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