Lewis Fenton, the Infamous Pine Robber

Before the war, Lewis Fenton reportedly worked as a blacksmith’s apprentice near Freehold. He participated in the Loyalist insurrection of December 1776 but was not prominent in that short-lived movement. Historian David Fowler, who rigorously studied Fenton, notes that Fenton, like other early Pine Robbers, drifted toward outlaw activity after the Loyalist insurrections collapsed.

In early 1777, Fenton stole clothes from a tailor. As he heard that a posse was forming to go after him, Fenton reportedly returned the clothes with a defiant note: "I have returned your damned rags. In a short time I am coming to burn your barns and houses, and roast you all like a pack of kittens." Fenton was indicted for larceny in Monmouth County Court of Common Pleas in 1777, for this incident or potentially for something else.

Fowler notes that Lewis Fenton’s father, Thomas Fenton, composed his will in early 1777. He conveyed his land to Lewis Fenton’s brother-in-law, rather than Lewis. Thomas likely understood that Lewis’s disaffection and criminality would jeopardize his ability to pass on the estate. The extended Fenton family, based on what can be gleaned from tax lists and court documents, were people of modest standing who did not play prominent roles in the war—for either side. Lewis Fenton was an outlier.

A man named Lewis Fenton is listed as having deserted from the First New Jersey Regiment of the Continental Army on July 13, 1777 document.  He deserted with two men who had common Monmouth County surnames—Schenck and Buckalew. This raises the strong possibility that Fenton enlisted in the Army and briefly served; other disaffected Monmouth Countians were pardoned for their crimes in exchange for army service in the spring 1777, so Fenton might have received an offer to enlist.

By late 1777, Fenton was again publicly disaffected. He was implicated in the case of State vs. John Pancas of Upper Freehold. Pancas was charged before the New Jersey Supreme Court for speaking Seditious Words. He was described in court papers as "being a pernicious & disaffected person and possessed of a turbulent mind.” On December 21, 1777, John Pancas “intending to terrify and dispirit the good subjects of this State”:

Did falsely say and affect 'I have a great deal of cyder and whiskey to treat my friends with (meaning the soldiery of the King and certain disaffected subjects of this State) when they shall come through, and hope that they will come through soon, and I will get clear of the rebels and live in peace.’

Pancas was accompanied at the time by “a certain Lewis Fenton.” For this incident or others, Fenton was indicted at the 2nd Court of Oyer and Terminer (June 1778).

Lewis Fenton, the Pine Robber

Fowler notes that Fenton’s career as a Pine Robber may have begun a few weeks later. On the day following the Battle of Monmouth, Fenton robbed the Cooper family, two miles south of Freehold. Antiquarian sources recount that Fenton went to the farm and demanded food from Mrs. Cooper and her daughters. As the women were gathering food, Fenton was chased off by the appearance of five German soldiers recently deserted from the British Army. The small incident illustrates the chaos of the days following the battle.

According to antiquarian sources, Fenton established a lair in Tinker Swamp, inland from Manasquan. From here, he robbed the tavern of Widow Harris and robbed travelers on their way to and from Manasquan. In August 1778, Major Richard Howell, with thirty Continental soldiers at Black Point (Rumson), wrote of Pine Robber activity to his south and suggested he would pursue them. This is probably a reference to Fenton, who was operating due south of Howell, although it is also possible that Howell was referring to Jacob Fagan whose gang laired further inland. Ultimately, Howell did not march after either of the Pine Robbers.

The relationship between Fenton and Fagan is unknown, but they both had associates who called themselves “Burke.” They must have known of each other and might have even collaborated. This may be why Fenton killed Captain Benjamin Dennis, the man who killed Fagan, and then killed three of Fagan’s companions in early 1779. The Loyalist Royal Gazette wrote: "On Monday, June 5, 1779, Captain Dennis of Monmouth was shot by some freebooters that harbor in that County." It is notable that the Loyalist newspaper labeled Fenton a “freebooter” and did not embrace him.

Fenton was now Monmouth County’s most notorious outlaw—and he grew bolder. On June 21, he and a small gang plundered the home of John Andrews of Upper Freehold. The robbery was not random—Andrews opposed the Loyalist insurrection in December 1776 and testified against insurrectionists in 1777. He owned a prosperous 135-acre farm.

A month later, Fenton committed another brazen robbery. This time, his victim was Thomas Farr of Imlaystown. Farr was the Deacon of the local Baptist congregation, strong supporters of the Revolution. He was also Upper Freehold Township’s tax assessor. So, Farr was probably an enemy of locals with Loyalist leanings. The New Jersey Gazette reported (somewhat mistakenly) that on July 31:

Thomas Farr and his wife and daughter… in the night were beaten by a gang supposed to be led by Lewis Fenton. About the same time, Fenton broke into and robbed the house of one Andrews, in Monmouth County.

A second report in the same newspaper was more accurate and detailed: "The house of Mr. Thomas Farr, near Crosswicks Baptist Meeting House, was attacked by several armed men, who demanded entrance." Farr perceived their intent to rob the house, so "the family consisting only of himself, his wife and daughter, barricaded the door." Fenton and his gang "finding they could not get in there, fired several balls through the front door, one of which broke Mr. Farr's leg." The Robbers then entered the house through the back door where they “mortally wounded Mr. Farr with a bayonet, and shot his wife dead on the spot. Their daughter made her escape, after being badly wounded, to a neighbor's house." The robbers then left quickly, fearing that Farr’s daughter would spread the alarm.

The newspaper reported that Fenton’s gang left "without any plunder” and “have not been discovered" since. New Jersey’s Legislative Council (Upper House of the Legislature) considered Fenton’s actions on August 24. It reported receiving affidavits:

Concerning a number of villains who on the night of July 31st, broke into his home and shot him, the said Farr, who of the wounds he received is since dead, and also an affidavit from one Elizabeth Andrews of the robbery and burglary committed on the night of June 21st in her house by Lewis Fenton.

The Council recommended a £500 bounty for the capture of Fenton and a £250 bounty for his associates; Governor William Livingston promptly issued it. The governor’s proclamation did not mention the killing of Captain Dennis, but detailed Fenton’s Upper Freehold felonies:

Thomas Farr and his wife were most barbarously murdered in the house of said Farr, in the County of Monmouth, by a number of persons unknown, and in the night of June 21st last, the house of a certain Andrews, in the County of Monmouth, was feloniously broken open and plundered by one Louis [Lewis] Fenton, and a number of persons unknown.

The Death of Lewis Fenton

Fenton’s days were numbered. In early September, the New Jersey Gazette reported "a few days ago, a gang of villains, associates of the infamous Lewis Fenton, were made prisoners by a party of our militia in Monmouth County, and safely lodged in the county gaol." The report was not correct.

New Jersey Gazette, reported again on September 23: "On Thursday last… a Mr. Van Mater [William Van Mater] was knocked off his horse… by Lewis Fenton and one DeBow [James DeBow], by whom he was stabbed in the arm and otherwise much abused, besides being robbed in the saddle.” Van Mater escaped and "went directly and informed a Sergeant's Guard of Major Lee's Light Dragoons, who were in the neighborhood, of what had happened.” The report continued:

The Sergeant immediately impressed a wagon and horse and ordered three of them to secret themselves under some hay... on the approach of the wagon, Fenton (his companion being gone) rushed out to plunder it... while advancing toward the wagon, one of the soldiers shot him through the head, which killed him instantly on the spot.

The men who killed Fenton were Virginians from Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee’s cavalry regiment. As noted in a prior article, Lee’s cavalry spent much of 1779 in Monmouth County, headquartered at Freehold but sending out small parties continuously to search for the expected French fleet (which never appeared). During that time, Lee’s men had the opportunity to participate in Monmouth County’s local war. Among other deeds, Lee’s men raided the British base at Sandy Hook and killed Fenton. One source notes that the sergeant who killed Fenton was named Cusak.

Lee’s men killed Fenton, but the bounty proclamation called for Fenton’s capture. So, it was an open question whether the bounty could be paid to Lee’s men. The New Jersey Assembly ended the debate on October 6 by resolving to pay the £500 bounty to Major Henry Lee, who was not present at Fenton’s undoing, but commanded the men who did the deed. Presumably, Lee shared the bounty with his men.

Fenton’s death was reported in the Virginia Gazette in December:

A desperate gang of murderers, chiefly refugees and deserters from New York, were lately brought to punishment in a most striking manner. For months past, these miscreants have plundered the county of Monmouth with impunity; all means used to curb their excesses being eluded by their vigilance and sudden retreats to the pine forests. At length however, they were waylaid by a party of armed men, who put the whole to death on the spot.

Fenton’s death was, no doubt, welcome news to many in Monmouth County. While it effectively ended inland Pine Robber activity, it was not the end of the Pine Robbers. Pine Robber gangs led by William Davenport, John Bacon, and others operated on the shore between Toms River and Little Egg Harbor through the end of the war. Davenport and Bacon are the subject of other articles.

Related Historic Site: Old Yellow Meeting House

Sources: David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) pp 146-164; The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 10, 11 June 1777 – 18 August 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2000, pp. 263–267; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #37504; John Raum, The History of New Jersey (Philadelphia: John Potter, 1872) v2, p72; John C. Paterson, The Pine Robbers of Monmouth County, unpublished manuscript in the collection of the Monmouth County Historical Association, 1834, p 1-2; Benson Lossing, Pictorial Fieldbook of the Revolution (reprint: Kessinger Publishing, NY, 2006) v2, p368 note 1; Kenneth Scott, ed., Rivington's New York Newspaper: Excerpts from a Loyalist Press, 1773-1778 (New York, 1973) p 184; New York Royal Gazette published in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 403;  Robbery of Robert Andrews discussed in David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 161; Killing Benjamin Dennis discussed in Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p199; David C. Munn, "Revolutionary War Casualties," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, vol 55 (1980) p 144; Lewis Fenton’s robbery of the Farr family is in Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p 198 and other saources; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; William Livingston’s Proclamation and related papers are in Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 161-2, 163, 206; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 125; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; New Jersey Gazette report on Lewis Fenton’s death in Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p198; New Jersey Assembly resolve is in The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 6, 1779, p 198; Virginia Gazette, December 26, 1779; For information on Fenton’s extended family, see Michael Adelberg, Biographical File (on file at the Monmouth County Historical Association).