Verga Ann Hillpot (1875-1944)
Verga Ann Hillpot was born in Frenchtown, NJ on April 2, 1875. Her parents were Reuben Burgstresser Hillpot and Mary Ann Rittenhouse Hillpot.
Verga, born one year after her parents married, was the eldest of six siblings including Thomas, Reuben, Ella May and William. They lived in the family home at 19 Second Street, Frenchtown, NJ. The Hillpots were members of the Frenchtown Baptist Church.
Verga attended the Hillside Academy which went up through 10th grade. She was valedictorian in a field of seven graduates in 1891.
After graduating the Hillside Academy, Verga attended the Peddie Institute Boarding School in Hightstown for one year.
Verga returned home to Frenchtown when she was 18. In July of 1893, she was noted in local papers for her elocution performances, first at the Frenchtown Baptist Church and later at Erwinna Hall.
Verga's "delineation of different characters was perfect. Her voice is good and her manner pleasing."--The Hunterdon Independent
Photo of Verga Hillpot donated to The Erwin Stover House Collection by Marilyn Godown Zapatka and Lucille Hillpot Baldwin
At this time Verga was also offering lessons in vocal and instrumental music as well as German and Latin.
However, Verga strove to have a higher education. She dreamed of attending the New England Conservatory of Music, School of Elocution, and College of Oratory in Boston, Massachusetts. She earned a scholarship from the Curtis Publishing Company by selling 1,250 subscriptions to the Ladies Home Journal.
Verga attended the College of Oratory in 1895 and graduated in 1896, having perfected the art of elocution. Tuition with board was $466.50 per year.
Verga began performing, initially on local stages, but eventually expanded her engagements within the tri-state area, performing as far away as Philadelphia and New York City.
Portrait of Verga Hillpot, Donated to The Erwin Stover House Collection by Marilyn Godown Zapatka and Lucille Hillpot Baldwin
Her programs offered diverse recitations, and she often performed in conjunction with other artists who offered such delights as a display of dramatic poses, as is shown in this 1899 program at the Chapel of Fewsmith Memorial Church, Bellville, New Jersey.
In 1900 she listed herself as an Elocutionist in the census, continuing to travel and perform.
On February 7th she once again took the stage at Fewsmith Memorial Church with a diverse program of recitations.
On December 8, 1900 she presented a one woman show at Frenchtown Borough Hall. According to the Frenchtown Star she presented 10 diverse elocutionary numbers. Her final piece was the Potion Scene from Romeo and Juliet.
"In giving this well-known scene, Miss Hillpot showed a courage and daring which would have been found wanting in many a much more experienced elocutionist...Her more critical hearer scarcely thought she would continue it because of its sustained intensity, but she brought to it such an amount, of personal genius, such an individuality, that her rendering of it was a revelation to the entire audience" Frenchtown Star, December 8, 1900.
Frenchtown Presbyterian Church (Westjerseyhistory.org)
Verga mostly performed in the tri-state area between 1900 and 1903, giving recitations for gatherings in New Hope, Pennsylvania, in Clinton for the guests of Mrs. Oscar Rittenhouse, at the Mechanics Lodge in Stewartsville, at the Locktown Grange, and at churches in Locktown, Quakertown, Phillipsburg, Flemington and even Hoboken.
In 1903 she took her show on the road, performing under the auspices of the Christian Endeavor Society in Montana, Wisconsin, and Massachusetts.
On June 28 of 1904, the Trenton Times reported, that "Miss Verga A. Hillpot has just returned from an extensive tour through the West. She also spent several months in Boston where she completed a degree in forensic oratory and received a diploma from the S. R. Kelley School of Oratory"
Soon after graduating she and her sister Ella (recent graduate of the New England Conservatory) began giving music lessons in the family home.
In the 1905 Census both sisters, Verga and Ella, are listed as Music Teachers. They taught students from their family home on Second Street in Frenchtown.
The family also served as the stage for Verga and Ella 's students' annual recitals.
Though Vergie had changed her focus to teaching she still occasionly gave performances in the local area, Such as her reading on "When I Come" at the union meeting of three churches in Frenchtown in 1909.
At age 35, Verga married John Stover in 1910 and moved into his home on River Road in Erwinna. The two of them shared the northern half of the house and John's sisters Tillie and Carrie lived in the southern half.
John was a graduate of Swarthmore College. He owned the Stover Flour Mill and managed the 126 acre farm around the house. Ten years earlier, John founded the Stover Telephone Company with a direct line to Philadelphia through the Keystone System. The company ran until 1931 with the telephone operator set up in the entry hall of their home.
Verga continued to work after she was married. She served as the telephone operator for John's Keystone System.
Several oral histories of local residents share that Verga continued to teach the local children piano and elocution at the house on River Road. Former students shared detailed descriptions of Verga's square piano, providing the County the necessary information to acquire an identical piano for the house once it opened as an historic museum.
This recently donated photo of Verga's piano at the Stover House on River Road shows the piano and the more elaborate decorations which served as a backdrop to the north parlor, typical of a home circa 1920.
Photo of Verga's Piano at the Stover House in Tinicum Township, donated to The Erwin Stover House Collection by Marilyn Godown Zapatka and Lucille Hillpot Baldwin
Verga also travelled to other areas in the region to teach. A 1914 ad in the Hunterdon Independent noted that she met pupils in Milford on Wednesdays, Frenchtown on Thursdays, Phillipsburg on Fridays and Easton on Saturdays.
The Hunterdon Independent praised Verga's teaching on August 26, 1914 following their annual recital at Frenchtown's Borough Hall, reporting that their performance, "gave evidence of careful training and reflected much credit to their teacher." The annual recital of 1917 was held at Verga and John's home on River Road, and showcased the talents of 23 of her 43 students.
According to the Census Records from 1920, 1930 and 1940, Verga lists no profession. It is unclear if she was still teaching in her later years, or she had retired.
Verga died on March 28 in 1944 when she was 68 years old. She was buried at the Point Pleasant Baptist Church Cemetery.
Many thanks Rick Epstein for his extensive research on Verga Hillpot Stover which is the basis for much of the content in this blog, as featured in his book, Frenchtown: Fires, Floods Fads, and Felonies Frenchtown, published in 2023. Also thanks to Marilyn Godown Zapatka and Lucille Hillpot Baldwin for their donation of memorabilia and photographs relating to the life of Verga Hillpot Stover.