The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth County's Ill-Fated Loyalist Militia and the Fall of George Taylor by Michael Adelberg From his home-in-exile on Staten Island, Gen. Courtland Skinner directed the actions of George Taylor, including his futile attempts to raise a Loyalist militia in Monmouth County. - January 1777 - As discussed in a prior article, the newly-mustered Loyalist militia of Monmouth County was defeated outside of Freehold by Pennsylvania Flying Camp under Lt. Colonel Francis Gurney, January 2, 1777. Throughout January 1777, the Pennsylvanians scattered groups of armed Loyalists at Middletown and Shrewsbury. But this did not end British attempts to marshal Loyalists and disaffected in Monmouth County into a militia. George Taylor Attempts to Build a Loyalist Militia On January 10, as Gurney was moving against Loyalists in Middletown, Courtland Skinner, the General of New Jersey Volunteers , assigned George Taylor to lead Monmouth County’s Loyalist militia: I have ordered Coll. Morris [John Morris] and Coll. Lawrence [Elisha Lawrence] to advance towards this place [Amboy] directly and bring the Volunteers here; You are therefore to muster the militia and take such part as will prevent small parties from entering the County and distressing the people. George Taylor was the former senior Colonel of the Monmouth County militia. In November 1776, his cousin, William Taylor, led a Loyalist association that was discovered and rounded up . His uncle, John Taylor, served as a Commissioner for administering British loyalty oaths . When George Taylor was pressured to sign a Continental loyalty oath, he refused and went behind British lines. With the order above, Skinner pulled his troops out of Monmouth County and sent Taylor into Monmouth County. However, there is no evidence that Taylor re-entered Monmouth County as a consequence of Skinner’s order. It is probable that Taylor had few, if any, men. And Gurney’s troops were proving themselves superior to any armed Loyalist resistance inside the county. Taylor also lacked a formal officer’s commission and may have been reluctant to re-enter Monmouth County without one. Skinner addressed this concern on February 26: It will give me great pleasure to enable you to enter the County of Monmouth once more, [but] all I can do at present is to give you the authority, which I cheerfully do by a commission which I enclose. It will be very proper, upon entering the County, to summon the inhabitants without distinction to renew their oaths and fidelity, and form them into such companies for the purpose of expelling the enemy and afterwards keeping the County. Still, Taylor hesitated. He may have been deterred by the capture of Robert Morris of Shrewsbury. Morris was a Loyalist who helped recruit for the New Jersey Volunteers during the Loyalist insurrection of December 1776. Morris left Shrewsbury with the New Jersey Volunteers in January and returned in February. On February 19, Morris’s band of Loyalist recruits, while waiting for a ship to carry them off, was attacked and captured by a Stafford and Dover township militia force led by Captain Reuben Randolph. Morris was jailed in the overcrowded Philadelphia prison. In April 1777, small armed parties of Monmouth Loyalist refugees began returning to the county. On April 2, the Middletown militia skirmished with Loyalists. One militiaman, Elijah Clayton, was captured. On April 14, Colonel David Forman reported to Governor William Livingston that his men had skirmished with and chased off a different Loyalist recruiting party. Forman called for depriving the Loyalists of recruits by drafting the disaffected into the Continental Army. These early Loyalist recruiting activities soon gave way to violent raids . George Taylor was involved in some of these activities, and led at least two early incursions, though it is impossible to know the connection between these actions and Taylor’s Loyalist militia. As for the Loyalist militia, there is no reason to believe that many men mustered for it. Taylor spent much of 1777 at Sandy Hook seeking to recruit and organize the Loyalist refugees and London traders who arrived there. But Taylor continued to have no effective fighting force under his command. In October 1777, while at Sandy Hook, he observed boats gathering at Point Comfort (Keansburg). Lacking his own force, he wrote Courtland Skinner to request a force to attack the boats. Skinner declined: I have for some time had intelligence that a number of [rebel] boats were at the Point [Comfort], and of their designs, but I believe they will hardly amount to anything. I wish I could send you the reinforcement you wish for; I am sure if it could be effected it would be worth attempting, but at present I cannot. In April 1778, Taylor was again at Sandy Hook. Courtland Skinner directed him to circulate pamphlets among the people of Monmouth County and deliver sealed letters to specific disaffected men living inside the county. You will endeavor to have them circulated as much as you can. Those sealed [letters] you may direct to such as you think will be best... let those in opposition have a good share, by this means we will be more at liberty. Spreading the literature did not lead to new Loyalist insurrections or a surge of Loyalist recruits. George Taylor’s Later Military Career By the middle years of the war, the Loyalist militia of Monmouth County ceased to exist. The British understood this and, in June 1779, commissioned Taylor to raise a company of Loyalist partisans that would, effectively, compete for recruits with the New Jersey Volunteers. Taylor’s order read: I do hereby authorize and empower you to raise for his Majesty's service a company of able bodied men, to consist of one Captain, one Lieutenant, one Ensign, three Sergeants, three Corporals, one Drummer, and fifty three privates, who will engage for two years, or the continuance of the rebellion in North America, in the defence of Sandy Hook and places adjacent, to receive the same pay, bounty and every other emolument, and to be under the same discipline as his Majesty's other Provincial Corps. With respect to your pay & appointment by Commission as Captain, these depend upon your success recruiting. The first will be issued to you as General Orders direct, and the latter you will be entitled to when you raise thirty two able-bodied men. Taylor’s company never reached 32 men; by his own account he raised only twenty. Despite continued setbacks, Taylor remained active at Sandy Hook. A note from Major John Andre that October gave him permission to board British vessels back and forth to Sandy Hook without needing to state his purpose. In 1780, Taylor and Andrew Skinner prepared a map for the British titled "the Refugee Posts: July 21, 1780", showing 21 Loyalist bases throughout New York and New Jersey. In fall 1780, Taylor and a handful of other prominent Monmouth County Loyalists were captured after landing in Monmouth County with a large quantity of counterfeit Continental money. Taylor described his service this way: Your memorialist, in December 1776, received a commission from Brigadier General Skinner, by authority of Governor Franklin, to command the militia of the County of Monmouth, and did actually prevent that part of the country from espousing the cause of rebellion until the arrival of the King's troops in 1777, when your memorialist joined them with a number of other active Loyalists, at the head of whom he frequently made excursions into rebel country, and captured a great number of officers and soldiers, who were exchanged for British of the same rank. That your memorialist in June 1779 did actually raise twenty effective men, and would have soon embodied many more had he not been taken prisoner and kept a long time in captivity. Taylor petitioned the British for a captain’s pension after the war. It was not granted. However, the Loyalist general, Oliver DeLancey, summed up his service: "Mr. George Taylor rendered very essential services to the Army in America, but I do not think they were of a nature to entitle him to Provincial half-pay." Taylor’s wartime trajectory—from leading the county militia, to leading an ill-fated Loyalist militia, to raising a single company, to performing ad hoc partisan activities—well illustrates the fall of a pre-war leader who chose the losing side. Even within the Loyalist ranks, Taylor’s restraint was increasingly anachronistic as the local war grew brutal. By the middle years of the war, bolder and crueler Loyalist raiders based at Sandy Hook were taking actions that likely made Taylor look mild-mannered and ineffectual. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : Cortland Skinner to George Taylor, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, vol 634, folio 186; Great Britain, Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, vol 634, folio 186; Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), pp. 357-8. Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Application Claims, D96, AO 13/110, reel 10; David Forman to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #4097; Hendrick Smock, Note, National Archives, Collection 881, R 593; David Forman to William Livingston, Mark Lender, “The Enlisted Line: The Continental Soldiers of New Jersey”(Ph.D. diss., Rutgers University, 1975) p 94; Courtland Skinner to George Taylor, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, vol 634, folio 186; Courtland Skinner to George Taylor, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, vol 634, folio 187; General H. Rooke to George Taylor, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, vol 634, folio 187; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971) p 308 note. Harlow McMillen, “Green and Red, and a Little Blue: The Story of Staten Island in the American Revolution, Part 5,” Staten Island History, 1st ser., vol. 32 (1976), p 49; George Taylor’s petition, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, vol 634, folio 184-5 Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Upper Freehold's First Loyalist Insurrection by Michael Adelberg John Lawrence was a respected political leader, attorney, and surveyor. He was entrusted to draw the line that split East New Jersey and West New Jersey. - June 1776 - In June 1776, the debate over independence forced Americans to take sides. In Monmouth County, large numbers of people were opposed . As noted in prior articles, Monmouth Countians authored nine anti-independence petitions and refused to turn out for the militia in much of eastern Monmouth County. But it was in the westernmost township of Upper Freehold where hostility to independence first came to a head. The first evidence of exceptional disaffection in Upper Freehold was recorded by the New Jersey Provincial Congress. On June 24, it received "a letter enclosed by the Committee of Monmouth, enclosing an association signed by certain Disaffected persons." The same day the Congress received a second letter, “that Coll. Forman [Samuel Forman of Upper Freehold], and his minute men seizing several disaffected persons... without the express command of that Committee, though approved by them afterwards." The next day, the Provincial Congress received a memorial from Moses Ivins and Richard Robins of Upper Freehold. They were vocal opponents of independence. Two weeks earlier, they were summoned to appear before the Provincial Congress. The memorial offered “reasons for their refusal of the summons." Ivins, who was apparently being detained, soon sent another letter "praying a hearing, confessing their faults, offering to make discoveries and praying discharge." Ivins likely appeared and revealed information about a budding Loyalist insurrection. The day after his confession, the New Jersey Provincial Congress, declared: It appears, from undoubted intelligence, that there are several Insurgents in the County of Monmouth, who take every measure in their power to contravene the Regulations of Congress, and to oppose the cause of American freedom; and as it is highly necessary that an immediate check be given to so daring a spirit of disaffection: It is therefore Resolved, unanimously, that Colonel Charles Read take to his aid two companies of the militia of the County of Burlington, properly officered and armed, and proceed without delay to the County of Monmouth, in order to apprehend such Insurgents and disaffected persons. Due to dysfunction in the Monmouth militia, the Provincial Congress turned to a neighboring county to restore order. The order also specially named a number of persons to be arrested, at least three of whom would become hostile Loyalists later in the war: Richard Robins, Anthony Woodward, Guisebert Giberson. Read’s men were not immediately effective. On June 29, the Provincial Congress received: Two Memorials, the one from the County Committee of Monmouth, the other from the Committee of Safety of that County, respecting certain disaffected persons in said County, and requesting that this Congress would take some decisive order therein. Three days later, on the same day that the Provincial Congress approved a new constitution that severed ties to Royal authority, additional action was ordered against the Monmouth insurgents: Resolved that Colonel Charles Read and Lt. Col. Samuel Forman... take two hundred Burlington County militia, and proceed without delay, in order to quell the aforesaid insurrection, and to disarm and take prisoner whomsoever they shall find assembled with the intent to oppose the friends of American freedom... and the said officers are empowered to take such measures as they shall think necessary for this service. Read and Forman were further ordered to bring the men they took to the Burlington jail, likely because the Monmouth jail was deemed insufficiently secure for holding Loyalist prisoners. That same day, John Covenhoven of Freehold, a delegate in the Provincial Congress, warned the Provincial Congress that some Loyalist insurrectionaries were “embodying themselves, and a considerable number encamped at the Cedar Swamps” near Sandy Hook. From here, they were expected to join the British Army. He asked Congress to "send forward all the assistance in your power." The New Jersey Provincial Congress, now renamed the New Jersey Convention, reported the troubles in Monmouth County to the Continental Congress. On July 3, the day before adopting the Declaration of Independence, the Continental Congress considered affairs in Monmouth County: The Congress took into consideration the letter from the Convention of New Jersey, whereupon: Resolved, that the Committee of Safety of Pennsylvania be requested to send as many troops of their Colony as they can spare to Monmouth County, in New Jersey, to the assistance of the inhabitants. John Hancock, President of the Continental Congress, promptly requested help from Pennsylvania: The Congress being informed by an express from the Convention of New Jersey that a number of Tories are embodying themselves in the County of Monmouth, and a considerable number are already encamped in the cedar swamps, and as the power of the militia in that County have marched to New York for the defense of that important place ...I apply to you and request that you would immediately send as many troops as your colony can spare to Monmouth County, for the defense and the assistance of the militia and inhabitants. The same day, the New Jersey Convention revised its orders to Colonels Read and Forman: Take two hundred of the Militia of Burlington County and two hundred of the Militia of Monmouth, and proceed, without delay, in order to quell the aforesaid insurrection, and to disarm and take prisoners whomsoever they shall find assembled with intent to oppose the friends of American freedom. The troubles in Monmouth County were also noticed by George Washington in New York. On July 4, he wrote about “the disaffection of the people at that place and others not far distant… unless it is checked and overawed, it may become more general, and be very alarming." Also on July 4, Samuel Forman, the militia Colonel for Upper Freehold, wrote to Colonel Charles Read, "I have ordered 200 men to meet at the Court House tomorrow morning at 6 o'clock, to be taken out of the company of Lower Freehold. The notice was so short that I could not send to Shrewsbury & Middletown in time to get their assistance without delaying you." Forman said he would march his men to Imlaystown and link up with Read. Forman also suggested that John Lawrence, one of Monmouth County’s most prominent citizens, was at the head of “the Tory party.” Forman had interrogated a man named Foster, “who they [the Tories] pressed in their service & forced him to take their oath.” Foster named a number of men in the Tory party, including Anthony Woodward (who would lead a subsequent Loyalist insurrection) and Elisha Lawrence (the former county sheriff who would soon become a Lt. Colonel in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers ). He said that "sundry others to the amount of about 30 went on board of Thomas Chadwick's boat, said to be bound for the British fleet." As Forman was mustering the Monmouth militia, the Pennsylvania Committee of Safety acted on John Hancock’s request: It ordered 150 men under Col. Broadhead to go to Bordentown, get provisions, and march to Monmouth County. However, on July 6 Broadhead was still in Philadelphia. In a letter, he acknowledged his orders "but as no particular part of sd county is mentioned & every man in the detachment strangers to that county." Broadhead claimed needing a guide before deploying. Meanwhile, Read’s men made their first arrests and some of whom went before the New Jersey Convention on July 4. The Convention recorded that: Numbers have expressed willingness to return to their duty upon assurances of pardon, alleging that they have been seduced by the false and malicious reports of others...It is therefore resolved that all such persons as shall without delay return peaceably to their homes, and conform with the orders of Congress, shall be treated with lenity and indulgence; and upon their good behavior, shall be restored to the favor of their Country. The Convention also ordered that supplies be brought to Bordentown for Col. Broadhead. Two days later, Col. Charles Read was at Imlaystown with Samuel Forman. They had captured John Lawrence “on information of his qualifying men to join the insurgents” and four other men. Read estimated the strength of the remaining insurgents at “50 or 60 men.” He concluded, however, that the most ardent Loyalists had escaped: “I am afraid the principals are flown." The Pennsylvanians were unhelpful. It is unclear when Col. Broadhead made it to Monmouth County, but another Pennsylvania regiment, under Colonel Samuel Miles, was already in New Jersey. He was ordered to “disperse and disarm” the Loyalists on July 8. But the orders apparently did not reach Miles quickly. He had marched into eastern New Jersey before returning to Upper Freehold. He later recorded: Sent a body of men to suppress an insurrection in Monmouth County, N. Jersey, and Lt. Col. Broadhead was sent with a detachment of 400 men, but the Whigs in that State had completed the business before his arrival. By the end of July, it appears that the Loyalist insurrection was quelled, but not crushed. The insurrection’s apparent leader, John Lawrence, was detained and the New Jersey Convention would soon fine four of the more prominent insurrectionaries: Richard Robins, John Leonard, Thomas Woodward and Ezekiel Forman. As for the less strident Loyalists, Charles Read understood that they would remain a problem . He frankly apprised the situation in Upper Freehold on August 4: "We have no doubt that there are persons, some of them of note, who are acting a very improper part, but we do not really know what to do with them.” As for the party of strident Loyalists now with the British, they would be heard from again. Related Historic Site : Historic Walnford Sources : Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p136-43; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, pp. 1628-9; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 2009) p 474; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1629-30; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 2009) pp. 475, 482-4; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p136; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1630-1; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornel University Press, 2009) p 478; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1630; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p136-43; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey, 1775-1776 (Trenton, NJ: Naar, Day, Naar, 1879) pp. 482-484; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1663; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1632, 1635; Journal of Col Samuel Miles, Pennslyvania Archives, Series II, Journal of Col. Samuel Miles, v 1, p519; John Covenhoven to Continental Congress, "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v1: p 1-2; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 1, p 1165; Library of Congress, Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 5, p 508; John Hancock to Pennsylvania Convention, Pennslyvania Archives, Series 1, v 4, p781-2; Journals of the Continental Congress, p508 ( www.ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html ); Paul Smith, et al, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970) vol. 4, pp. 377-8; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1637; George Washington, Official Letters to the Honorable American Congress Written During the War between the United Colonies and Great Britain (Boston: Manning & Loring, 1795) v 1, p181; Samuel Forman, "Tory Movements in New Jersey on Howe's Arrival at Staten Island", Historical Magaizine, vol. 5, 1861, p 7; Historical Society of Pennsylvania, New Jersey Papers, Historical MSS, 1654-1853, p 201, 203; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p137; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1636; "Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1638-9; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p138; Samuel Forman, "Tory Movements in New Jersey on Howe's Arrival at Staten Island", Historical Magazine, vol. 5, 1861, pp. 7-8; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1665. Minutes of the Provincial Congress and Council of Safety of New Jersey (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) p 545; Joseph Reed, Life and Correspondence of Joseph Reed, Philadelphia: Lindsay & Blankston, 1847, p 212; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post, July 9, 1776. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Colonel George Taylor Turns Loyalist by Michael Adelberg Loyalists were recruited into British service with handbills like this one used in Philadelphia in 1777. George Taylor circulated similar handbills when recruiting in Monmouth County. - November 1776 - George Taylor was Monmouth County’s senior militia officer, the first-appointed militia colonel and leader of the county’s largest regiment (his regiment had ten companies, the other two regiments had eight companies). But Taylor’s family leaned Loyalist. His cousin, William Taylor, led a movement to oppose the Declaration of Independence. William and his uncle, John Taylor, would lead a Loyalist insurrection in December. George’s father, Edward Taylor, was a leading Committeeman in 1775 who would become publicly disaffected by 1777. By November 1776, George Taylor’s frustrations mounted. The county militia was wracked with dysfunction —several companies simply would not turn out. From his base on the Navesink Highlands, Taylor daily observed small vessels illegally trading with the British on Sandy Hook and Staten Island without the naval assets to intervene. He also daily observed a powerful British military with the ability to easily invade thinly-protected Monmouth County. The Continental Army was routed in New York and retreating across New Jersey. Governor William Livingston snubbed Taylor by denying him custody of a vessel that he captured from a British prize crew. Taylor began hedging his bets; he became a “friend ” to a budding Loyalist association. Taylor was charged with rotating militia companies to stand guard opposite the bustling British naval base at Sandy Hook. Mid-month, he ordered out a new militia company but knew it was insufficient to withstand a British attack. On November 19, Taylor wrote John Covenhoven, a delegate to the New Jersey Assembly, about the weak defenses and a new loyalty oath requirement: I have taken this method to inform you and the rest of the House that Col. [Daniel] Hendrickson's month ends next Thursday, and the men will be very anxious to return home. I am at a loss how to act in this case, as the General's are out [retreating across New Jersey] and no orders can be given... I have ordered a company down to Sandy Hook; the post, I think, lies the most exposed. Taylor also offered to resign from the militia in preference to signing a loyalty oath: I have been informed that an act of your House makes void all commissions when the bearer does not qualify [sign of loyalty oath], and if officers have no other principles to bind them but oaths, I should be very doubtful whether any extraordinary matter might be expected of them. This subject I shall drop, and request information whether you choose my resignation or I must act as usual. This, Gentlemen, is on your breasts. Taylor concluded the letter ominously: “I shall now remain inactive until I hear from you." News of Taylor’s quasi-resignation spread quickly. Colonel Samuel Forman, commanding the militia regiment from Upper Freehold, Dover and Staff townships, wrote Assemblyman Joseph Holmes about Taylor in November 21: There is a task laid before me that I don't like. Col. Taylor refuses taking the oath required: in consequence thereof, the officers refuse acting under him. They request me to take command the next month, which begins tomorrow. Tis quite likely that Col Taylor has orders from the General, and also money to supply the regiment with provisions. Before I can go [and take command], I must have orders and money to supply a Commissary. You see the immediate necessity of orders being sent, or our guards on shore may be suffering for provisions, and in the greatest confusion. On November 24, Colonel David Forman’s Flying Camp returned to Monmouth County to break up a budding Loyalist insurrection—one that George Taylor likely knew about because it was led by his cousin, William. As Forman started arresting Loyalists, George Taylor likely feared that his cordial relations with insurrectionists would be uncovered. On November 28, George Taylor "deserted to the enemy"—probably joining the British on Sandy Hook or Staten Island. Taylor apparently met with Courtland Skinner, General of the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers , and offered himself up as a senior officer. Since the field officer ranks of the New Jersey Volunteers were filled (with Monmouth Countians Elisha Lawrence and John Morris already leading the 1st and 2nd Battalions), Skinner devised a novel role for him. On December 18, Taylor was commissioned the Colonel of Monmouth County’s [Loyalist] Militia: You are therefore to take said militia into your charge and care as Colonel thereof, and duly exercise both officers and soldiers of the same in arms; and as they are hereby commanded to obey you, as their Colonel, so are you likewise to observe and follow such orders and directions from time to time as you shall receive from your Captain General. Taylor’s ill-fated Loyalist militia and brief period as a Loyalist partisan are discussed in another article, but, regardless of title, George Taylor’s commission evolved into a recruiter role over the course of the war. In April 1779, Taylor paid 3-guinea bounties at Sandy Hook to seventeen Loyalists who he recruited from Monmouth County to join the New Jersey Volunteers. Six months later, deliberately vague orders were sent to Captain Swinney of the HMS Europe at Sandy Hook to assist Taylor. Taylor would "go ashore at Sandy Hook Bay as may suit his purpose, which are according to the Commander in Chief's directions." Related Historic Sites : Marlpit Hall Sources : Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) pp. 18-20; William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1872); Courtland Skinner to George Taylor, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, vol 634, folio 186; Thomas Crowell, letter, Library of Congress, MMC - Courtland Skinner, box 10; John Andre to Captain Swinney, Great Britain Public Record Office, Treasury, Class 1, Volume 634, folio 187; Michael Adelberg, “’I am as Innocent as an Unborn Child’: The Disaffection of Edward and George Taylor,” New Jersey History , Spring 2005, v 123, pp 1-25. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth Loyalists Pardoned for Continental Army Service by Michael Adelberg Abraham Clark was a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress in 1777. He supported three imprisoned Loyalists insurrectionists who sought pardons in exchange for enlisting in the Continental Army. - April 1777 - The Continental government had two interrelated problems in early 1777. First, it had several hundred Loyalist prisoners who needed to be sheltered, fed, and guarded. Daily, these men consumed resources that were needed by the threadbare Continental Army. Second, the Army was thousands of soldiers short of expectations with respect to filling its ranks. Offering Loyalist prisoners pardons in exchange for Continental Army service—though fraught with complications—was a way to alleviate both problems at once. The idea of pardoning prisoners for enlisting into the Continental Army and Navy was not unique to Monmouth County’s jailed Loyalists. It was implemented at different times and in different ways across the colonies. Moving Monmouth County’s Loyalists into the Continental Army was first proposed by Owen Biddle, a Continental commissary officer in Philadelphia, to Governor Willilam Livingston in February 1777. Livingston did not respond directly, but informed Biddle that Nathaniel Scudder, a committeeman and militia officer from Freehold, would soon be visiting Philadelphia to assess the Monmouth prisoners. Nathaniel Scudder visited the Continental prison In Philadelphia and identified Monmouth Loyalists taken on January 2 at Freehold (at the “First Battle of Monmouth ”) and other Loyalists taken by Francis Gurney’s regiment on January 6 at Upper Freehold and January 9 at Shrewsbury. Scudder did not endorse enlisting insurrectionists in the Continental Army in exchange for a pardon. Governor Livingston confessed frustration on how to proceed, "we know not what to do with them [the prisoners] at present." However, Livingston soon had a mechanism for considering these Loyalists. Beginning in earnest in April, Governor Livingston convened a Council of Safety for the state of New Jersey (discussed in another article) which examined dozens of Monmouth Loyalists, including several who were confined in Philadelphia. Jailed Insurrectionists Allowed to Join the Continental Army Some jailed Monmouth Loyalists wished for a pardon in exchange for serving in the Army. On March 30. 1777, Congressmen Abraham Clark and Jonathan Sargent, two of New Jersey’s delegates to the Continental Congress, wrote Gov. Livingston: The enclosed petitions from three of the Jersey prisoners [John North, William North, James Journee] were presented to Congress & referred to us. We have visited them in the hospital & find they have had the small pox very favorably. They are almost fit to go to work & very pressing for a discharge. We can find no cause of their detention. The three prisoners were transferred to New Jersey and appeared before the Council of Safety on April 14; they promptly took Loyalty oaths to the state. But the Council did not immediately pardon them, perhaps because it was considering the status of several other Monmouth Loyalists in similar circumstances. On May 19, Lt. Gilbert Imlay of David Forman’s Additional Regiment wrote the Council of Safety about fifteen Loyalists (including North, North, and Journee) who wished to join in the Army: A number supposed to be dangerous & disaffected to the Government were apprehended in the beginning of January last, in the county of Monmouth, by virtue of and orders from one of the generals in the Continental service [Israel Putnam], and sent to Philadelphia, in which place they have been since confined. Several of the prisoners have been enlisted in the United States [Army] on condition that they be released or set at large from their present imprisonment; and that practice & caution are taken to enlist only those as are either really innocent or stand accused on only petty offenses. Imlay noted that "Major Seabrook [Thomas Seabrook], who is now at this place, can if called upon, bear evidence in favor of the person aforementioned." Seabrook would formally request that the fifteen Loyalists "be released from confinement & permitted to join the company in which they have enlisted." If Imlay and Seabrook were seeking to bring Loyalists into David Forman’s Additional Regiment, they were presumably doing so with Forman’s approval. As discussed in a prior article, recruiting for Forman’s regiment was going badly and the potential of recruiting a large chunk of the 200+ jailed Monmouth Loyalists might double the size of the regiment. Forman was struggling to recruit even 100 men when a full-strength regiment was roughly 600 men. The Council of Safety heard from Seabrook and approved pardons for the fifteen Continental Army enlistees. On May 21, Gov. William Livingston wrote to the Pennsylvania Board of War about the Loyalists: The prisoners hereafter mentioned, confined in your goal, were apprehended January last in the County of Monmouth as disaffected; and are said to have enlisted in the service of the United States, on condition of being sett [sic] at liberty. Livingston proposed having Major Thomas Mifflin bring the prisoners back to New Jersey, where Livingston would free them contingent on their enlistment. The selection of Mifflin was not accidental; Mifflin led Pennsylvania troops in defeating the Monmouth Loyalists five months earlier. The prisoners were returned to New Jersey on May 23. For an unknown reason, only seven of the prisoners agreed to enlist at that time. The eight others were returned to jail. Confusion among the enlistees continued. On May 27, the New Jersey Council of Safety recorded that four of the enlistees--John Sears, Stout Havens, Richard Margison, Richard Barber--had "declared they had altered their minds and did therefore refuse to comply with their former engagements; wherefore they were remanded to the Guardhouse.” All four of these would cause trouble later in the war: Sears and Margison would be convicted of treason and jailed in Morris County; Havens would incited for harboring enemy combatants tried before the New Jersey Supreme Court (verdict unknown); and Barber would become a London Trader and associate of the Pine Robber , John Bacon. Lt. Imlay marched off with only three recruits (North, North, and Journee). The Loyalists who reneged on their promise to enlist were, by and large, treated roughly. Stout Havens remained in jail even after "friends testified in his favour" on June 4. Five others claimed the right to favorable treatment as prisoners of war (as opposed to domestic traitors) based on joining George Taylor’s Loyalist militia . This status was denied by the Council of Safety because "none of them had been engaged more than a fortnight" in that militia. They remained in jail as criminals not subject to prisoner exchanges negotiated between the armies. Seven of the twelve Loyalists were ultimately convicted of treason by the Council of Safety and, on June 19, transferred to prison in far-off Morristown, too far from home to receive regular visits from friends and family. Later in the War The idea of paroling prisoners in exchange for Continental service was raised again later in the war. For example, on January 1, 1781, New Jersey’s Chief Justice, David Brearley, a former Continental Army officer from Upper Freehold, wrote the New Jersey Legislative Council (the Upper House of the legislature) that: At a Court of Oyer and Terminer lately held in the County of Monmouth, Benjamin Lee was convicted of rape upon Sarah Phillips, and Henry Sellers of robbery, for which the death sentence was passed against them, and requesting a pardon for them upon condition that they enlist and serve aboard one of the Continental frigates. Brearley supported the proposal. Lee was not granted a pardon and was put to death; the fate of Sellers is unknown. As for the three Monmouth Loyalists who joined the Continental Army in exchange for a pardon—John North, William North, and James Journee—they took different paths through the war. John North served his three-year enlistment in the Continental Army without incident. He then served in the Monmouth militia. In January 1782, he joined the State Troops and was one of three men assigned with taking a captured Loyalist, Philip White, from Long Branch to the county jail at Freehold. The three guards harassed White into attempting an escape and then murdered him when he ran. White’s murder prompted Loyalists to execute Captain Joshua Huddy, a retaliatory act which nearly led to the execution of a British officer, Charles Asgill, in retaliation for Huddy. The “Huddy Affair ” reverberated across the highest levels of the Continental, French and British governments. North was indicted in the Monmouth courts for riot in November 1782, though the particulars are unknown. William North served in Forman’s regiment but left in 1777. He is listed as deserted in the muster rolls of the New Jersey Volunteers in January 1778. This suggests that he deserted the Continental Army in 1777, collected a bounty for joining the New Jersey Volunteers, and then returned to the Continental Army where he received lenient treatment because he returned on his own. After his three-year term in the Continental Army, he served in the Monmouth County militia. He is listed as a “Single Man” in the 1784 tax rolls—suggesting that he was a poor laborer unable to own land at war’s end. James Journee served his three-year enlistment and returned home. He became a Lieutenant in the militia. He is listed as owning 200 acres in the 1779 tax rolls, suggesting he was from a wealthier family than John and William North. He was indicted for assault in 1780, but the particulars of that assault are unknown. In 1781, he was involved in an attempted prisoner exchange outside of official channels, but the exchange did not occur. Permitting Loyalist prisoners to join the Army in exchange for a pardon, at least in the case of Monmouth County’s Loyalists, produced only three recruits. Given the amount of time invested by several leaders to create the opportunity and the continued shortage of men in the Continental Army, the results of this effort could only be considered disappointing. Related Historic Site : Morristown National Historical Park . Sources : William Livingston to Owen Biddle, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 248, 253; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 19, 21; Abraham Clark to William Livingston, Paul Smith, et al, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970) vol. 6, p 310 note 2; Gilbert Imlay to NJ Council of Safety, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #4126; William Livingston to PA Board of War, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, pp. 337-8; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 55, 57-8; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 191; Adelberg, Michael, Biographical File , at Monmouth County Historical Association, Freehold, New Jersey. 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The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Second Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer by Michael Adelberg Fairfax County’s Court in Virginia was crowded with litigants, jurors, and passionate onlookers. Monmouth County’s 2nd Court of Oyer & Terminer may have been even more crowded and impassioned. - June 1778 - Monmouth County had no functioning courts from the middle of 1776 and through 1777. During that time, people charged with crimes were detained for long periods without trial, including more than 200 Loyalists sent out of state . In 1777, a few people were tried by the New Jersey Supreme Court and a few dozen went before the New Jersey Council of Safety . Sentences were lenient—usually a small fine and a loyalty oath. In sharp contrast, Colonel David Forman, acting under claimed martial law powers, convened extra-legal tribunals that exiled Loyalist women to New York and hanged the Loyalist, Stephen Edwards. In January 1778, Monmouth County convened its first Court of Oyer & Terminer , a special court for severe and politically-oriented criminal cases. The January court tried 106 individuals and followed the lenient sentencing precedents established by the Council of Safety. As 1778 progressed, however, Loyalist raids and crime increased in quantity and violence. Monmouth Countians became less tolerant. By May, it was expected that the 12,000-man British Army in Philadelphia would march across New Jersey and through Monmouth County. Amidst rising anger and worry, Monmouth County held its second Court of Oyer & Terminer. The Second Monmouth Court of Oyer and Terminer The second Court of Oyer & Terminer convened on June 3. As the court was held just a few days after three militiamen were killed at Middletown Point , the court was likely attended by a revenge-minded and raucous crowd. There are two surviving court dockets from this court and they are not identical in the roster of indictments and case outcomes. Despite the inconsistencies, it appears that by June 15, the court had tried 98 individuals. Charges included: High Treason (8 charged), Robbery (8 charged), Felony (2 charged), Assault (4 charged), Riot & Trespass (11 charged), Seditious Words (6 charged), A handful of individuals (Jonathan Brown, Joseph Giberson, Stephen West, John Lloyd, Esther Wilson) were charged with more than crime. Several of the individuals tried at the second Court of Oyer & Terminer had been charged at the first one. Based on surviving documents, it is impossible to know if these individuals were being retried or charged with new crimes. Seven women were charged with speaking seditious words or misdemeanors (likely conducting illegal trade with or visiting the enemy). Two of these women, Rhoda Pew and Elizabeth Farrow, were charged at the first Court of Oyer & Terminer. Mary Leonard, who had been exiled extra-legally to New York by David Forman, was back in Monmouth County and charged with speaking seditious words. Of the four other women charged with Seditious Words—Sarah Brown, Ann Parker, Catherine Thomson, and Esther Wilson—only Thomson was the wife of a prominent Loyalist. This suggests that most of these women chose to speak forcefully against the state of affairs. The Court’s Capital Convictions In contrast to the lenient sentences of the first of Court & Terminer, the second Court issued twelve capital convictions. This is a remarkable number given that not a single one of these convictions can be traced to a murder (based on surviving documents). As was common in this period, several (five) of the capital convictions drew pardons. On June 22, the Legislative Council (the Upper House of the state legislature) asked Governor William Livingston to pardon five of the capitally convicted Monmouth Countians: John Polhemus and William Grover (charged with High Treason) and William Dillon, Robert McMullen, Michael Millery (charged with Robbery and Felony). Two of the pardoned capital convicts, Dillon and McMullen, would return as dangerous Loyalists later in the war. The Council did not request pardons for four other men with robbery convictions and death sentences (James Disbrow, Harmon Johnson, John Wood, and Thomas Emmons); nor did it request a pardon for David Heslip, charged with High Treason and sentenced to death. The felony charge of “robbery” was more than the theft of property; simple thefts were tried in the courts of general sessions under the charge of larceny. Felony robbery, in contrast, was theft with malevolence—perhaps accompanied by physical intimidation, destruction of property, or tying someone up and leaving them. Disbrow, Johnson, Wood and Emmons may have been the first so-called Pine Robbers captured and tried. Pine Robber gangs, such as that led by Jacob Fagan, were operating in Monmouth County by summer 1778, and Pine Robbers were often sentenced to death in later courts. One of the hanged robbers, Thomas Emmons, was the brother of Stephen Emmons in Fagan’s gang. Therefore, it is probable that four men hanged for robbery were in groups that presaged the better-documented gangs of Fagan, etc. Two other men received capital convictions. Ezekiel Forman, kin of the powerful Forman family, was convicted of High Treason and sentenced to death, but his sentence was commuted to permanent exile behind British lines. Forman would return to Monmouth County and remain a problem throughout the war. Robert McElvin was convicted of robbery and sentenced to death but he invoked an “Act of Grace,” took a loyalty oath, and was released. Other Notable Proceedings There were other notable proceedings: Five disaffected individuals (Philip White, Benjamin Allen, John Kirby, Nathan Woolley and John Van Loo) were convicted of misdemeanor for "accompanying Captain Klein to Philadelphia.” Klein was a German officer in the British Army who came ashore in Monmouth County. The men took him to Philadelphia to rejoin the British Army. Only one of these men – Philip White – is recorded as being punished. He was jailed for one month. After that, White became a Loyalist partisan. He was captured by a party of state troops and was murdered in 1782. With the British Army on the march, three men sentenced to prison were ordered to serve their time outside of Monmouth County. Joseph Fitzrandolph was convicted of “trading with the enemy on Staten Island" and jailed in Morris County; Uriah West and Nathaniel Finnan were convicted of “absconding to the Enemy” and jailed in Gloucester County. Other men sentenced to prison were not sent out of the county; it is unclear why some men were sent away but others were not. Five individuals were fined £20 (the approximate value of a good horse) or more. They were: Thomas Thomson, Sr., seditious words, fined £100 Derrick Longstreet, riot & trespass, fined £50, Joseph Wardell, two misdemeanors, fined £30, James Grover, misdemeanor, fined £30, Esther Wilson (wife of Andrew), misdemeanor and seditious words, fined £20. Thomson was a yeoman from Upper Freehold Township who supported the Loyalist insurrection in 1776. It is unknown what he said to prompt the exceptional fine, but he would remain a problem throughout the war (including a High Treason indictment in 1779). Derrick Longstreet’s unusually large fine was likely tied to the curious fact that his was the only house at Manasquan spared the torch during the April Loyalist raid. John Lloyd and Thomas Lloyd, prominent supporters of the Revolution, were both charged with misdemeanors and were found not guilty. John Taylor, the former leader of the Middletown Loyalist Insurrection was also charged with misdemeanor and found not guilty. One person, Moses Robins, was charged with a felony and found not guilty. Two prominent Loyalists were jailed in the Monmouth County Courthouse in Freehold at the time of Court of Oyer & Terminer: Chrineyonce Van Mater and William Taylor. Van Mater had guided British troops in taking two of New Jersey’s leading Whigs, Richard Stockton and John Covenhoven. Taylor led a Loyalist association that was broken up in November 1776. Van Mater is listed in the court docket as indicted but his charged crime is not stated. Van Mater was freed by the British Army when it reached Freehold. Taylor is not listed in the court dockets—he was extra-legally detained and would soon be exchanged for the captured John Burrowes, Sr. Also absent from the court docket is Thomas Hartshorne of Shrewsbury Township. He was arrested on May 16, 1778, nearly two weeks prior to the start of the court for “being armed & arrayed in a warlike & hostile manner” where he “did falsely, wickedly and traitorously join, aid, abet & adhere to a body of troops and soldiers, then and there being enemies of their State." Hartshorne was indicted as a “false traitor” who was "seduced by the subjugation of the devil.” Hartshorne was tried for High Treason by the New Jersey Supreme Court in July 1779; it is unclear why he was not brought before the Second (or Third ) Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer. The march of the British Army and Battle of Monmouth upended any plans for prompt executions. The British burned much of Freehold and, after the battle, the people of Freehold needed to care for dozens of severely-injured men . Executions were delayed until July 17—six weeks after sentencing. But it appears only two men were executed that day (Wood and Emmons). Dr. Samuel Adams of the New Jersey Line (who stayed in Freehold after the Battle of Monmouth) wrote that “two Tories were hanged at Monmouth Court House, I went to the place of execution, but they were carried off a few minutes before I arrived." The other three men on death-row, according to a July report in the New Jersey Gazette , would be executed on August 18, but there is no follow-up report stating that executions occurred that day. An August 1 report in the Loyalist New York Gazette reported that executions would occur at Freehold on August 18 and September 30. Presumably, the three capital convicts—Disbrow, Johnson, Heslip--were hanged on these two days. Perspective For Monmouth County, the second Court of Oyer & Terminer was a watershed. Prior to this court, the people of Monmouth County (with the extra-legal actions of David Forman as a conspicuous exception) showed great restraint when dealing with their enemies. At this court and with its five executions, Monmouth County’s leaders (judges and officers of the court) and its citizenry (juries) succumbed to bloodlust. The second Court of Oyer & Terminer demonstrated that Monmouth County’s Revolutionaries—enraged by deadly Loyalist raids and malevolent robberies, and facing an impending British invasion—were now as violent as their enemies. Related Historic Site : Burrowes Mansion Sources : Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 2, p 312; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder - June 1778; Morristown National Historical Park Collection, reel 39, Monmouth Courts; Morristown National Historical Park Collection, reel 39, Monmouth Courts; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 249-50, 254; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 83; Dr. Samuel Adams to Polly Adams, David Library of the American Revolution, Sol Feinstone Collection, reel 1, #28-30; New Jersey Supreme Court: State vs Thomas Hartshorne, High Treason, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, # 35917; Kenneth Scott, Rivington's New York Newspaper: Excerpts from a Loyalist Press, 1773-1783 (New York: New York Historical Society, 1973) pp. 148-9, 158. E. Alfred Jones, The Loyalists of New Jersey: Their Memorials, Petitions, Claims, etc. From English Records (Heritage Books, 2009), see Willaim Grover. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Disaffected Officeholders of Dover and Stafford Townships by Michael Adelberg This 1780 map shows Dover and Stafford Townships cut off from the major roads of the rest of Monmouth County. Resentful locals elected men disaffected from the Revolution to local offices. - March 1780 - Prior articles have documented that many people living along shore were disaffected . “Disaffected” was a term used during the war to describe people with a dislike for the Continental and New Jersey governments. Local leaders who were disaffected from the Revolution were elected to local offices in Shrewsbury Township . The term could be applied to Loyalist enemies of the new government, but could also be applied to malcontents who stayed home. Loyalists left American society—they went behind British lines and/or took up arms to oppose the Revolution. They were commonly labeled “Tories” or “Refugees” by Whigs (people who supported the Revolution). The “disaffected” who remained in New Jersey were unhappy with the state of affairs and took actions that placed them at odds with the new government (evading taxes, avoiding militia service, trading with the enemy). But they never took the ultimate step—risking their lives and their estates to support the restoration of Royal rule. They stayed home and, in some cases, remained active in local government. Here is a breakdown of a graphic by the author for an essay published in the Journal of the Early Republic detailing the political spectrum during the Revolutionary War in localities with large numbers of disaffected. In these places, like Monmouth County, rival blocs of Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) competed with each other and the disaffected for political sway. Political Factions Participating in Local Government: Machiavellian Whigs: W illing to sacrifice due process protections in the interest of fully prosecuting the local war forcefully Due-Process Whigs: S upported war effort, but not to the extent of sacrificing legal and due process protections Disaffected: Participated in the new government but covertly opposed it; took actions contrary to the war effort External: Loyalist: Went within British lines and/or took up arms in direct opposition to the American government It stands to reason that in areas with disaffected majorities, these citizens would elect leaders who reflected their disaffection. In four of Monmouth County’s six townships (Middletown, Shrewsbury, Dover, and Stafford), there were significant disaffected populations. Long shorelines made “London Trading ” with British-held New York easy and profits made this trade alluring. Resentment toward the new government—its taxes, its mandatory militia service, its inflationary money, its weak institutions—ran high. In prior research, the author identified fifteen wartime officeholders (even after the purging of Loyalists following the restoration of Whig rule in early 1777) linked to disaffection. Some, such as Richard Crammer, Clarence Van Mater, and David Woodmancy were from families that were known to be disaffected. Others like David Knott and Daniel Hendrickson of Middletown (not the militia colonel of the same name) were pre-war squires who probably enjoyed some lingering deference from their neighbors. While these disaffected leaders held a variety of leadership positions, they only held civilian offices. There is no evidence of disaffection among Monmouth’s militia officers subsequent to the restoration of Whig rule in early 1777 (though Major Thomas Hunn and three other militia officers were removed by courts martial for embezzling counterfeit money in 1781). The true political feelings of these disaffected officeholders are hard to know based on surviving documents, but their dalliances with disaffection (including participating in the highly profitable London Trade) suggests that the lure of profit may have trumped political convictions. Disaffected Local Leaders in Dover Township Township election records do not exist for most of Monmouth County’s townships during the Revolutionary War years. Fortunately, Dover Township records have survived for 1780 and 1783. The voters of Dover Township elected the following men during those two years: 1780 Dover Township Officeholders Name / Year / Office / Evidence of Disaffection Samuel Brown 1780 Commissioner of Appeals No records found John Cook 1780 Clerk, Freeholder No records found John Chamberlain 1780 Constable No records found Benjamin Ellison 1780 Highway Overseer No records found John Holmes 1780 Assessor No records found Ezekiel Johnson 1780 Highway Overseer No records found John Platt 1780 Commissioner of Appeals No records found Isaac Potter 1780 Freeholder to Assist Assessor skips jury duty, indicted for misdemeanor Thomas Potter 1780 Overseer of Poor takes British loyalty oath, petitioner against Retaliators Moses Robins 1780 Freeholder to Assist Assessor No records found John Stout 1780 Collector No records found Joshua Studson 1780 Highway Surveyors No records found Jacob Wolcott 1780 Highway Overseer Tory insurrectionist (recants) David Woodmancy 1780 Freeholder indicted for Seditious Words, militia delinquent, indicted for misdemeanor (twice) James Woodmancy 1780 Highway Surveyor skips jury duty, assists Pine Robbers Of the fifteen men elected to township offices in 1780, five took actions that indicate disaffection. While some officeholders—Cook, Brown, Stout, and Studson—were also militia officers who had risked their lives to combat Pine Robbers and London Traders, many officeholders were sympathetic to or in collaboration with those Loyalists. While five of fifteen is not a majority officeholders it must be noted that evidence of disaffection is incomplete; it is probable that additional officeholders committed acts that showed some level of collaboration with local Pine Robbers or London Traders. Three of the officeholders above—Johnson, Platt, and Robins—lack documentation of disaffection, but also documentation of taking acts in support of the Revolution (beyond holding a local office). 1783 Dover Township Officeholders Name / Year / Office / Evidence of Disaffection Jacob Applegate 1783 Highway Overseer No records found Jacob Foster 1783 Overseer of Highway Tory insurrectionist, indicted for misdemeanor (twice) Francis Letts 1783 Overseer of Poor No records found Isaac Potter 1783 Freeholder of Appeals skips jury duty, indicted for misdemeanor Moses Robins 1783 Freeholder of Appeals No records found John Rogers 1783 Chosen Freeholder No records found John Stout 1783 Overseer of Poor No records found Thomas Van Note 1783 Overseer of Highways Pine Robbers in family David Woodmancy 1783 Clerk; Freeholder of Appeals indicted for Seditious Words, militia delinquent, indicted for misdemeanor (twice) Gabriel Woodmancy 1783 Assessor; Chosen Freeholder indicted for Seditious Words James Woodmancy 1783 Collector skips jury duty, assists Pine Robbers John Woodmancy 1783 Constable skips jury duty, assists Pine Robbers Of the twelve men elected to township offices in 1783, at least seven men were disaffected. Four of these men were from the publicly disaffected Woodmancy family. The ranks of the staunch Whig leaders who stood for office in 1780 had thinned—Cook and Studson had both died in battle, and Brown had fled the township and was living in Woodbridge. The township’s primary Whig neighborhood—the village of Toms River —had been destroyed in March 1782 and this act may have left Whig voters dispirited. As noted above, it is possible that additional local officeholders were disaffected beyond those listed. The citizens of Dover Township elected men disaffected from the Revolution even as the Revolution’s outcome was becoming apparent. Disaffected Officeholders in Stafford Township Evidence is similar in Stafford Township, to the south of Dover. The locals of this township, culturally and geographically distant from the northern townships, took sniper shots at Kasimir Pulaski’s Continentals in 1778 and supported Pine Robbers and London Traders throughout the second half of the war. Name / Year / Office / Evidence of Disaffection Nathan Bartlett 1780 Freeholder No records found David Bennett 1780 Highway Surveyor indicted for misdemeanor (twice) Richard Brown Jr 1780 Freeholder seeks militia exemption, rejected Daniel Conklin 1780 Highway Overseer No records found Sylvester Cook 1780 Overseer of the Poor No records found Richard Crammer 1780 Overseer of Highways arrested for London Trading, indicted for going to New York, defaults on debt owed to State Nathan Crane 1780 Overseer of Highways No records found Trevor Newland 1780 Assessor accused of disaffection, arrested and released on bond, cordial with Loyalists, goes to New York Linus Pangburn 1780 Clerk No records found Amos Pharo 1780 Commissioner of Appeals No records found James Randolph 1780 Collector indicted for misdemeanor, missed jury duty Reuben Randolph 1780 Commissioner of Appeals missed jury duty John Southard 1780 Constable missed jury duty Sylvester Tilton 1780 Commissioner of Appeals No records found Of the fourteen elected officeholders in 1780, seven show evidence of disaffection. However, it should be noted that three of these men—James and Reuben Randolph, and Southard—had other experiences that show a commitment to the Revolution (Reuben Randolph was the captain of Stafford’s one militia company). So, some of these leaders might have been libertine rather than truly disaffected. On January 23, 1781, the Monmouth County Sheriff was ordered to form a posse and arrest many of Stafford Township’s leaders: You are hereby commanded that you take Samuel Ridgeway, Thomas Ridgeway, Thomas Osborn and Amos Randall… and them to safely keep so that you have their bodies before the Judges of the Inferior Court of Common Pleas to be held at Freehold...on the fourth Tuesday of April next, to answer the State of New Jersey in a plea of debt that they render to the said State, the sum of L320 lawful money, which to the said State they owe and unjustly detain. Similar orders were issued for the arrests of David Smith, Josiah Crammer, Samuel Pearce, David Jones, Micajah Willis, Amos Southard, Richard Crammer Jr., Richard Willis, Samuel Crammer, Anthony McKinnon. While the underlying charge is not stated, the most likely reason for this large-scale action was that these men were implicated in London Trading and/or harboring the enemy. The Ridgeway, Crammer and Southard families were among the most prominent in Stafford Township, and members of these families were in the rotation for local office holding. The leading families in Stafford Township, including those holding some of its most important offices, were judged disaffected by county leaders in Freehold. Perspective It is easy to deploy a simplistic “Patriot vs. Tory” dichotomy when considering the American Revolution. Popular culture depictions of the war suggest that the American countryside was comprised of “good” Patriots and a scattering of scheming Tories. However, along the ethnically-English, poor, and sparsely-populated Monmouth County shoreline, resentments ran high against the wealthier Scotch Irish and Dutch inland residents who dominated the county’s Revolutionary government. These resentments made it easy to oppose the Revolution—especially once London Trading created unprecedented opportunities to accumulate wealth. Whether the disaffected leaders of Dover and Stafford Townships were genuinely opposed to the Revolution, or merely co-opted by the windfalls of London Trading, is a tantalizing question not answered by surviving documents. Related Historic Site : Cedar Bridge Tavern Sources : Michael Adelberg, “The Transformation of Local Governance in Monmouth County, New Jersey during the War of the American Revolution,” Journal of the Early Republic , vol 31 (2011), pp 467-498; Dover and Stafford Township Election Returns, Monmouth County Archives, Box 613 - Election Returns, Folders – 1780, 1783; Kenneth Anderson to Sheriff, Monmouth County Archives, Common Pleas (Loose); Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 352; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File , at the Monmouth County Historical Association. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Death of the Pine Robber, Jacob Fagan by Michael Adelberg The first Pine Robber gangs, including that of Jacob Fagan, laired in the marshes between Shrewsbury and Manasquan. Fagan was only an outlaw a few months when he was killed by militia. - September 1778 - The Pine Robbers were Loyalist outlaws who lived in the coastal marshes and interior pine forests of Monmouth, Burlington, and Gloucester counties. While many of these outlaws made a living primarily by acting as middlemen in the illegal trade between disaffected farmers and the British commissary at Sandy Hook, others engaged in multiple violent robberies and burglaries. A lot that has been written about the Pine Robbers is improbable and not supported by original documents. One account, for example, claims that Jacob Fagan’s Pine Robber gang had a sophisticated fortress-lair: Fagan's gang had a state-of-the-art hideout in the pine barrens. Trap doors hidden under leaves and branches in steep hillsides admitted the pine robbers into 30 foot tunnels. These ended in storerooms that were large enough to hold six men. Buried beneath their floors was thousands of dollars worth of patriot loot. Romantic depictions aside, living in swamps and subsisting off the occasional robberies of people who were, themselves, not wealthy, was a very difficult way to live. Fagan’s outlaw existence, which lasted only a few months, was not “state of the art.” Many Pine Robbers did not survive the war; of those who did, there is no reason to think they were anything other than poor at war’s end. Historian David Fowler, who wrote the defining work on the Pine Robbers, traces their origin to early 1777 when some of the defeated Upper Freehold Loyalist insurrectionists hid in the woods after their insurrection was toppled. A few of these men were captured and jailed . Others may have stayed in the woods. These men laid low and convinced themselves that the British would return as liberators. But when the British Army traversed Monmouth County and quit New Jersey in July, 1778, any flickering hopes of liberation were dashed. Now, these Loyalist recluses mixed with British Army deserters and pre-war ne’er do wells. They emerged in outlaw gangs that have been imprecisely labeled Wood Rangers, Tory Banditti, and especially, Pine Robbers. In June 1778, a dozen men received death sentences for treason, robbery, and burglary at Monmouth County’s Court of Oyer and Terminer —half were pardoned. Two of these Loyalists, William Dillon and Robert McMullan, either became Pine Robbers or consorted with them after their pardon. In August 1778, Major Richard Howell, from his camp at Black Point, wrote about marching after a Pine Robber gang to his south, but it is unclear if he ever did so. What is clear is that Pine Robbers gangs—swelled by deserters from the British Army—grew increasingly bold in summer 1778. The Rise of Jacob Fagan and Attempts Take Him Jacob Fagan was a criminal who was twice indicted for larceny before the war. In 1776, he stole a horse, and then joined the Continental Army some months later (perhaps in exchange for a pardon). Fagan did not serve long. On March 20, 1777, Jacob, his brother, Perrine Fagan, and a third deserter were “brot [sic] in” to the Continental Army camp with six other “Tories.” The men were likely hiding in the woods following the collapse of the Loyalist insurrections in January. The man who took them, Lewis Bestedo, was an ardent Whig who would capture another group of Tories-in-hiding two weeks later. Though returned to the Army or jailed, Fagan escaped. He likely lived as a vagrant or outlaw in Monmouth County’s swamps through the summer of 1777. With winter coming, Fagan joined the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers in November 1777. Fagan’s battalion of Loyalists was with the British Army during the march across New Jersey in June 1778. In the days before the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778), Fagan and a few other Monmouth County Loyalists with the British Army, deserted and camped in the marshes a few miles inland from Shrewsbury. They became the core of the first notorious Pine Robber gang. Fagan and his gang must have been active robbers in summer 1778 based on the many steps taken to counter him. Daniel Dey of the Monmouth County militia recalled in his veterans' Pension Application: I volunteered for one month under Capt Walton at the time the British Army evacuated Philadelphia and marched through the State of New Jersey, was in the battle of Monmouth - was one week in the service under Col. [David] Forman hunting Tories through the pines, capturing more than 20 of them and fastened them together, two by two by the neck with a strong rope. William Lloyd also recalled going "in pursuit of the Refugees of the Pines” in 1778. He further recalled that “they broke into the house of a man I knew and killed the man and his wife." Jacobus Van Zandt of New York rode to Shrewsbury on July 16 to deliver pilots to the French fleet that was anchored off shore. He likely heard stories about Fagan’s gang and probably had to take precautions that made his trip unpleasant. He wrote: “I am much Fateagued and almost Burnt up with hot sand, in going through a Villanous Tory country.” On August 10, with Fagan’s infamy building, the New Jersey Legislative Council (the Upper House of the legislature) asked Governor William Livingston to "order out one class of militia from each of the counties of Burlington and Monmouth, to be stationed in Monmouth” to protect residents from “the disaffected persons skulking in the pines." Two weeks later, Major Richard Howell, stationed at Black Point with a small guard of Continental soldiers, attempted to infiltrate Fagan’s gang and then proposed to attack them: I sent out two men who pass for deserters to join the wood Tories, but could not join them, from their caution, having been deceived before. Since that measure was defeated, I now propose to go down by night & surround the swamp in which they are from, with this intelligence, and burn their cabins. However, there is no evidence that Howell went after Fagan. Fagan’s Most Notorious Incident and Death The primary documented incident involving Fagan was the robbery of the house of Captain Benjamin Dennis. Amelia Dennis, the 15-year-old daughter of Captain Dennis, later recalled Fagan and Stephen Emmons (who used the alias “Burke”) and two others coming to the family home near Manasquan. Dennis was a target because he was a strong supporter of the Revolution and because he was holding money from a sale of a captured Loyalist vessel. Captain Dennis was not home when the Pine Robbers approached, but his wife and daughter were. The first man to enter the house was a man named Smith, who, according to Amelia Dennis, was secretly an informer against Fagan. He warned Amelia to gather her father's valuables and flee into the woods. Amelia “hid a pocketbook containing eighty dollars in a bed-tick.” She and her little brother hid in the woods. Fagan and Emmons entered the house and became frustrated when they could not find any money. They found Rebecca Dennis, Amelia’s mother, and “took her to a young cedar-tree and suspended her to it by the neck with a bed cord” to force her to reveal the money's location. The potential hanging was disrupted by a passerby (John Holmes) who fled when the robbers descended on him. During the distraction, Mrs. Dennis freed herself and ran off. The robbers left with only a few household items. Afterward, Captain Dennis moved his family to the village of Shrewsbury for safety. According to Amelia Dennis, Smith informed Captain Dennis of Fagan's plan to return to the Dennis home in order to more thoroughly search for the hidden cash. The militia set up an ambush and fired upon both Fagan and Burke when they came, but the Pine Robbers escaped. However, Fagan was apparently wounded and his body was recovered a few days later in a swamp. Fagan's body was brought to Freehold where: The people assembled, disinterred the remains, and after heaping indignities upon it, enveloped it in a tarred cloth and suspended it in chains with iron bands around it, from a large chestnut tree, about a mile from the Court-house, on the road to Colt's Neck. There hung the corpse in mid-air, rocked to and fro by the winds, a horrible warning to his comrades. Amelia Dennis’ full account is an appendix to this article. Fagan’s death was reported in the New Jersey Gazette and Pennsylvania Evening Post . Jacob Fagan, the chief of a number of villains of Monmouth County, terror of travelers, was shot. Since which his body was gibbeted on the public highway in that County, to deter others from perpetrating like detestable crimes. The near-hanging of an innocent woman was an outrage that stirred the New Jersey Government. On September 30, the New Jersey Assembly, not knowing Fagan was already dead, concurred with a request from Governor Livingston: To issue proclamations offering such reward or rewards as his Excellency and the Privy Council shall deem proper for the apprehension of Jacob Fagan and Stephen Emmons, alias Burke, and certain other disaffected and disorderly persons in the County of Monmouth, who have for the time past committed, and still continue to commit, diverse felonies & depredations on the persons & property of the inhabitants thereof. The upper house of the legislature, the Council, recommended that Governor Livingston place bounties on the heads of: Jacob Fagan ($500), Stephen Emmons, alias Burke ($500), Samuel Wright of Shrewsbury, William Van Note, Jacob Van Note, Jonathan Burdge, and Elijah Groom ($100 each). The New Jersey Gazette published the Governor’s proclamation accordingly on October 7: Whereas it has been represented to me that a number of persons in the County of Monmouth, and particularly those herein mentioned, have committed diverse robberies, violences and depredations on the persons and the property of the inhabitants thereof, and in order to screen themselves from justice, secret themselves from justice in the said County: I have therefore thought proper, by and with the advice of the Council of this State, to issue this Proclamation, hereby promising rewards herein mentioned to any person or persons who shall apprehend and secure, in any gaol of this State, the following person or persons to wit: for JACOB FAGAN and STEPHEN EMMONS, alias BURKE, five hundred dollars each; and for SAMUEL WRIGHT, late of Shrewsbury, WILLIAM VAN NOTE, JACOB VAN NOTE, JONATHAN BURDGE and ELIJAH GROOM, one hundred dollars each. The militia had already killed Fagan—so, Dennis and the other militia were ineligible to collect on his bounty. In November, Dennis petitioned for the Jersey Assembly for the bounty anyway. Governor Livingston was sympathetic to Dennis and wrote a letter on his behalf. Livingston noted that he could not give Dennis the bounty, but urged the Assembly to "recompense [Dennis’ party] for their risque and trouble as may be suitable encouragement for others to undertake the like enterprises." On December 1, the Assembly voted to award Dennis £187 for his efforts—this amount was likely reimbursement for expenses related to mustering the militia to go after Fagan. The Council concurred on December 12, though it called the sum “a reward for taking Jacob Fagan” rather than reimbursement for expenses. This was less than the bounty on Fagan’s head, but still a significant sum. Fagan’s death was re-reported in the New Jersey Gazette on January 29, 1779, after three other members of his gang (including Stephen Emmons) were killed. The newspaper wrote: "the destruction of the British fleet could not diffuse more joy through the inhabitants of Monmouth County then has the above deaths of these three most egregious villains." The death of Emmons is the subject of another article . The death of the Pine Robbers was big news. It was reported as far away as Williamsburg, Virginia, where the Virginia Gazette reported on February 26: We hear from East Jersey that a desperate gang of murderers, chiefly refugees, deserters from New York, were lately brought to condign punishment in a most striking manner. For months past these miscreants had plundered Monmouth County with impunity, all means used to curb their excesses being eluded, by their vigilance and sudden retreat to the pine forests. At length, however, they were way layed by a party of armed men, who put the whole to death. However, other Pine Robber gangs led by Lewis Fenton, William Davenport, John Bacon and others would form and prove more destructive and durable than Fagan’s gang. The swamps of the Monmouth shore would remain, in the words of historian Donald Shomette, “lightly populated and altogether wild... the haunt of rowdies, smugglers, and highwaymen.” Pine Robbers would remain a significant problem for local governments and militia for the remainder of the war. Related Historic Site : Bear Swamp Natural Area Appendix: Amelia Dennis’ Account the Pine Robber Attack on Her Family One Monday in the autumn of 1778, Fagan, Burke [actually Stephen Emmons], and Smith came to the dwelling of Major Dennis, on the south side of the Manasquan River, four miles below what is now the Howell Mills, to rob it of some plunder captured from a British vessel. Fagan had formerly been a near neighbor. Smith, an honest citizen, who had joined the other two, the most notorious robbers of that time, for the purpose of betraying them, prevailed upon them to remain in their lurking place while he entered the house to ascertain if the way was clear. On entering he apprised Mrs. Dennis of her danger. Her daughter Amelia, a girl of fifteen, hid a pocketbook containing eighty dollars in a bed-tick, and with her little brother hastily retreated to a swamp near. She had scarcely left when they entered, searched the house and bed, but without success. After threatening Mrs. Dennis, and ascertaining she was unwilling to give information where the treasure was concealed, one of them proposed murdering her 'No!' replied his comrade, 'let the d—d rebel b—h live. The counsel of the first prevailed. They took her to a young cedar-tree and suspended her to it by the neck with a bed cord. In her struggles she got free and escaped. Amelia, observing them from her hiding place, just then descried John Holmes approaching in her father's wagon over a rise of ground two hundred yards distant, and ran toward him. The robbers fired at her; the ball whistled over her head and buried itself in an oak. Holmes abandoned the wagon and escaped to the woods. They then plundered the wagon and went off. The next day Major Dennis removed his family to Shrewsbury under the protection of the guard. Smith stole from his companions and informed Dennis they were coming the next evening to more thoroughly search his dwelling, and proposed that he and his comrades should be waylaid at a place agreed upon. On Wednesday evening the Major, with a party of militia, lay in ambush at the appointed spot. After a while Smith drove by in a wagon intended for the plunder, and Fagan and Burke came behind on foot. At a given signal from Smith, which was something said to the horses, the militia fired and the robbers disappeared. On Sunday, the people assembled, disinterred the remains, and after heaping indignities upon it, enveloped it in a tarred cloth and suspended it in chains with iron bands around it, from a large chestnut tree, about a mile from the Court-house, on the road to Colt's Neck. There hung the corpse in mid-air, rocked to and fro by the winds, a horrible warning to his comrades." Sources : Stephen Davidson, The Pine Barrens: Jacob Fagan's Gang, United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada, http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Trails/2012/Loyalist-Trails-2012.php?issue=201243 ; David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987); Journal of Colonel Israel Shreve, Louisiana Technical University, Special Collections (excerpted by David Fowler); Muster Roll of 2 nd Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, February 24, 1778, Library and Archives of Canada, Loyalist Muster Rolls, New Jersey Volunteers, vol. 1855, reel C3874; JohnJohn Raum, The History of New Jersey (Philadelphia: John Potter, 1872) v2,p72-4 Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p196-7; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Freehold, NJ: Moreau Brothers, 1887) p 36; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015); National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Daniel Dey of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#15489356 ; William Lloyd’s pension application contained in John C. Dann, The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980) pp 135-16; Jacobus Van Zandt to George Clinton, Clinton Papers 3: 560–6. Accessed via https://navydocs.org/ ; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 83-4; Richard Howell to William Maxwell, George Washington Papers, Library of Congress, Series 4, Reel 5; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 30, 1778, p 180-1; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 91-2; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post; Library of Congress, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; William Livingston to New Jersey Assembly, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 487-8; New Jersey Legislature notice, Monmouth County Historical Association, J. Amory Haskell Collection, folder 13, Document A; John C. Paterson, The Pine Robbers of Monmouth County, unpublished manuscript in the collection of the Monmouth County Historical Association, 1834, p 3; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 3, p 54; Virginia Gazette, February 26, 1779, Previous Next

Civil War "Since We Left Old Monmouth..." At the outbreak of the Civil War on April 12th 1861, Monmouth County was an agricultural hub that was home to nearly 39,000 people. The residents held a deeply-felt pride in their ancestors' part in the American Revolution under Washington himself at the Battle of Monmouth, and this translated to a need to carry that torch within themselves as well. The Monmouth Herald and Inquirer beckoned the men of Monmouth: "Men of New Jersey! The hour has again come when your loyalty to freedom and the Union of the Fathers is to be tested. Treason and Rebellion are at your very doors and you are called upon to resist and overwhelm them..." Volunteers flooded the enlistment rolls for what they hoped would be a brief conflict. They were wrong. The war raged on far longer than anyone had guessed. There was tremendous loss of life, felt even more so in the close-knit, rural towns of Monmouth. The Government was running low on funds, and the soldiers were not getting paid regularly. Southern sympathizers (referred to as "sesesh") and anti-war sentiment began stirring discontent at home, and volunteer enlistments began dwindling. The quota that each town was responsible for filling was not being met, and the draft was required to ensure we had enough men to fight. In order to avoid instituting the draft, towns began offering sign-on bonuses in addition to the People & Stories Artifacts Documents BACK

Taylor Butler House Interactive Experience Take the full audio tour, or focus on your areas of interest! Explore our digital gallery for more insight into what life was like at Taylor Butler House. Enjoy your visit! FULL TOUR Station One Mary's New Home Station Two History of the Structure Station Three Lives of the Enslaved Station Four The Last Descendant Saves Marlpit Digital Gallery Explore Our Collections Continue your tour with nearby historic sites Marlpit Hall This house was filled with many generations of Taylors descended from Edward Taylor the 1st. His grandson, also Edward, was a loyalist during the American Revolution. Both the structure and the site are rich in historical significance. It is one of the oldest surviving structures in New Jersey. Old First Church The congregation began in 1688 as the Middletown Baptist Church. This structure was built in 1832, and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Monmouth County Whig Society by Michael Adelberg The Continental and New Jersey governments issued paper money during the Revolution that quickly lost its value. Monmouth County’s Whig Society tried to preserve the value of these currencies. - May 1781 - By May 1781, the local war in and around Monmouth County spiraled toward greater brutality. On both sides, paralegal organizations (the Association for Retaliation and the Associated Loyalists ) loaded prisoners in irons in response to real and perceived abuses by the other; irregular gangs and raiding parties “man-stole ” unarmed citizens and plundered their homes. After five years of war and sacrifice, thousands of Monmouth Countians embraced extra-legal, eye-for-an-eye retaliation as a military strategy. But not all Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) supported the move in this direction. Historian Richard McCormick discussed the rise of Whig Societies in Monmouth, Somerset and Middlesex Counties, starting in May 1781. He noted that Whig societies devoted themselves to protecting the value of State and Continental money, promoting free trade, and halting illegal trade with the British. While the Retaliators promised eye-for-an-retaliation with or without the legislature’s authorization , Whigs societies pledged to conduct themselves in accordance with the law. The Monmouth County Whig Society The first meeting of the Monmouth County Whig Society was held on May 10, 1781, at Freehold. It was reported in the New Jersey Gazette . The Whig Society resolved, "That we will use our utmost endeavors to support the credit of the paper currency of this State and to execute the law strictly against every person who shall, to our knowledge, attempt to depreciate." The resolves were signed by John Covenhoven, the Whig Society’s President. Covenhoven was a venerable political leader in Monmouth County. Captured at home at the start of the Loyalist insurrections in 1776, Covenhoven signed a British Loyalty oath to earn his release. He laid low after that; the Whig Society returned him to leadership. Two days later, three petitions to the New Jersey legislature went forward from Monmouth County. The first petition, signed by 34 men mostly from Freehold Township, stated the “estates of numbers of us are wrecked, either by means of external violence or internal policy.” The petitioners then called for economic reforms against New Jersey’s price controls: When we meet ruin in the line of our duty, by complying with the laws of our said Country, we stand amazed! The staple of this State (grain and stock) ought to be encouraged. A State can never flourish when its staple commodity languishes. Limitations of prices and embargoes may answer good purposes upon special emergencies, but if they are frequent or of long duration, they become pernicious, as they usually operate as taxes on industry & discourage the raising of the articles they are designed to make cheap. The petitioners then addressed a proposal in the legislature to pull money out of circulation (in an effort to slow inflation, as the state’s price control laws had failed). The petitioners were concerned, as taking money out of the economy “appears calculated to ruin the credit thereof… they humbly recommend that more severe penalties be inflicted [for currency depreciation], rather than the tender be taken off.” The petitioners then called for free trade (except with the British): Your Memorialists would further recommend that the supplies to the Army , such as the Country may produce, may be raised in kind to feed the troops and money to pay them & every restraint upon trade [be] taken off, & it be free to all the world, excepting Great Britain. Two other petitions went to the New Jersey Assembly from Monmouth County on May 12. One carried 84 signatures. As with the prior petition, the petitioners called for free trade: “that every restraint on trade may be taken off, and it be freely to all of the world, save Great Britain and her dependencies - by this measure, supplies may be raised speedily & with greater ease & equity to individuals." Unlike the prior petition, these petitioners were unconcerned with the state’s currency, but very concerned with legalizing eye-for-an-eye retaliation. They requested: “permission to practice retaliation to have recourse to retaliating on the disaffected amongst us, from which we have experienced the happiest effects." Several prominent Retaliations—David Forman, Kenneth Hankinson, Thomas Henderson, Elisha Walton, Samuel Forman—signed this petition. What likely occurred is that the Whig Society, meeting on May 10, authored the petition on free trade and currency deprecation. Potential signers, however, may have been ambivalent about currency depreciation (if they owed debts, inflation may have been in their self-interest). So, these men authored their own petitions and included a provision about eye-for-an-eye retaliation—which the Whig Society did not support. The last May 12 petition was signed by 25 petitioners, mostly from Upper Freehold. The petitioners worried over the "present & alarming state of affairs... the estates of a number of us are wrecked by means of external violence & internal policy." They also called for free trade within New Jersey, “that every restraint on trade be taken off” and they also called legalizing retaliation, though their language was more circumspect than in the petitioners from Freehold: Your memorialists beg leave to set forth the depredations committed against us by the refugees from amongst the enemy, while we inform your honours that our incredible distress has compelled, altho’ with great reluctance, to have recourse to retaliating on the disaffected among us, from which we have experienced the happiest effect, we would therefore pray your honours pass an act for all past retaliation, and that you would disenfranchise those amongst us [who are] notoriously disaffected. The New Jersey Assembly recorded reading and considering the three petitions on May 21 and June 4. The Whig Society, likely comprised of wealthier Whigs and creditors only looked to curb runaway inflation. The concerns of the Whig Society with runaway inflation was underscored by a May 13 letter from Capt. Beckwith, a Philadelphia privateer at Shrewsbury. He wrote that "old Continental dollars are now at 8 or 900 to one, the new state money at five or 6 to one and bad credit even at that; no person can make any considerable purchase in town or country with paper at all." A few days later, on June 6, Hendrick Vorhees complained to Colonel Asher Holmes about David Forman, leading the Association for Retaliation , refusing to accept Continental money. Vorhees wrote: Agreeable to your orders, I went to General Forman's… to pay him for the ozenbergs, which he refused to take, and says he will not take a farthing of it [Continental money] unless he is allowed depreciation, therefore I should be glad to know what I am to do in the matter. The Whig Society continued meeting. Its next public meeting was advertised on September 5, to occur on September 12, in Freehold. The advertisement was signed by William Wilcocks, the Whig Society’s Secretary. Wilcocks was an attorney who had served as a judge advocate in the Continental Army before moving to Freehold. He became famous for his successful litigation in Holmes v. Walton , in which he successfully defended a Monmouth Countian who had almost certainly illegally acquired silks, but was denied a full jury trial. The Whig Society’s Platform On July 17, 1782, the Whig Society met again at a public meeting chaired by Covenhoven. It passed a number of resolves which fleshed out its platform. These were published in the New Jersey Gazette two weeks later. The Society noted that British peace overtures had increased the temptation to trade with them. Illegal trade with the British might "weaken the Union" and cause a "drainage of specie .” Therefore, the Society pledged: We will...exert ourselves to have the laws of this State for preventing illicit trade and intercourse with the enemy carried into full effect...use our utmost endeavors to detect and bring legal punishment to all persons that have or may hereafter be concerned in holding a trade or intercourse with the enemy...publish in the New Jersey Gazette the name of every person within this county that shall be detected in violating the said law, in order that they may be publicly known and treated with such a degree of contempt as their crimes deserve...encourage the collection of all taxes that now are or hereafter may be levied by law. The Society then resolved that its members would engage in “endevouring to carry into the full effect the laws of this State for the preventing of illicit trade and intercourse with the enemy, and for the collection of taxes.” Further, the Society devoted itself to advertise those who engaged in illegal trade so that these individuals would be shunned, as was done with violators of the Continental Association prior to the war: We will use our utmost endeavours to detect and bring legal punishment to all persons that have or may hereafter be concerned in holding a trade or intercourse with the enemy; that we will, from and after this time, publish in the New Jersey Gazette the name of every person within this county that shall be detected in violating the said law, in order that they may be publickly known and treated with such a degree of contempt as their crimes deserve. The Society also pledged that it would “encourage the collection of all taxes that now are or hereafter may be levied by law for the purpose of supporting the present war.” Into the 1780s, tax collection was a dicey proposition in disaffected parts of Monmouth County. The full resolutions of the Whig Society of Monmouth County are in the appendix of this article. No membership list exists for the Whig Society. While their political rivals in the Retaliators gathered 436 signatures, it is probable that the Whig Society never numbered more than a few dozen—but the membership skewed toward the county’s wealthier and better-connected. It is probable that the Whig Society never sought members from middling and poorer people. In 1782, other associations sprung up across that county—each of which came into existence as a check against illegal trade without resorting to extra-legal retaliation. While the Whig Society, of itself, might not have commanded the affection of very many Monmouth Countians, these other associations would enlist hundreds more Whigs who sought to express their patriotism while upholding the law. Related Historic Site : National Museum of American History (Washington, DC) Appendix: The Resolutions of the Whig Society of Monmouth County, July 1782 Whereas the court of Great Britain, after having in vain attempted to subjugate the American states force of arms, have at length been obliged to acknowledge the impracticability of the measure, but still not willing to relinquish all attempts for the purpose, have changed their system of politicks, and are now endevouring the seduce the inhabitants of these states into a compliance with them; in measures that if not prevented will be very prejudicial to the Union, by publickly countenancing a trade with us, from which every evil is to be apprehended; but one that particularly more affects us is the danger of draining specie out of the country and thereby rendering it impracticable for the inhabitants to pay their taxes; therefore: Resolved, that it is the duty of every friend to the independence of America, at all times, to exert himself to counteract the efforts of the enemy; but more particularly so at a time when our political salvation (under God) depends on, and must be procured by our exertions. Resolved, that at this critical situation of publick affairs, there is no way in which exertion can be better applied, nor any measure that can be adopted more necessary than supporting and endevouring to carry into the full effect the laws of this State for the preventing of illicit trade and intercourse with the enemy, and for the collection of taxes. Resolved, that we will, as far as our power and influence will extend, exert ourselves to have the laws of this State for preventing illicit trade and intercourse with the enemy carried into full effect; and that we will use our utmost endeavours to detect and bring legal punishment to all persons that have or may hereafter be concerned in holding a trade or intercourse with the enemy; that we will, from and after this time, publish in the New Jersey Gazette the name of every person within this county that shall be detected in violating the said law, in order that they may be publickly known and treated with such a degree of contempt as their crimes deserve. Resolved, that we will, as far as our influence will extend, encourage the collection of all taxes that now are or hereafter may be levied by law for the purpose of supporting the present war. Freehold, County of Monmouth, July 17, 1782 –John Covenhoven, President"Resolution of the Whig Society of Monmouth County Whereas the court of Great Britain, after having in vain attempted to subjugate the American states force of arms, have at length been obliged to acknowledge the impracticability of the measure, but still not willing to relinquish all attempts for the purpose, have changed their system of politicks, and are now endevouring the seduce the inhabitants of these states into a compliance with them; in measures that if not prevented will be very prejudicial to the Union, by publickly countenancing a trade with us, from which every evil is to be apprehended; but one that particularly more affects us is the danger of draining specie out of the country and thereby rendering it impracticable for the inhabitants to pay their taxes; therefore: Resolved, that it is the duty of every friend to the independence of America, at all times, to exert himself to counteract the efforts of the enemy; but more particularly so at a time when our political salvation (under God) depends on, and must be procured by our exertions. Resolved, that at this critical situation of publick affairs, there is no way in which exertion can be better applied, nor any measure that can be adopted more necessary than supporting and endevouring to carry into the full effect the laws of this State for the preventing of illicit trade and intercourse with the enemy, and for the collection of taxes. Resolved, that we will, as far as our power and influence will extend, exert ourselves to have the laws of this State for preventing illicit trade and intercourse with the enemy carried into full effect; and that we will use our utmost endeavours to detect and bring legal punishment to all persons that have or may hereafter be concerned in holding a trade or intercourse with the enemy; that we will, from and after this time, publish in the New Jersey Gazette the name of every person within this county that shall be detected in violating the said law, in order that they may be publickly known and treated with such a degree of contempt as their crimes deserve. Resolved, that we will, as far as our influence will extend, encourage the collection of all taxes that now are or hereafter may be levied by law for the purpose of supporting the present war. Freehold, County of Monmouth, July 17, 1782 –John Covenhoven, President Sources : Richard P. McCormick, Experiment in Independence: New Jersey in the Critical Period 1781-1789 (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1950), pp. 11, 164; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Larry Gerlach, New Jersey in the American Revolution 1763-1783 A Documentary History (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1975) pp. 395-6; Hendrick Vorhees to Asher Holmes, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 5, folder 9; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 14, #65; New Jersey State Archives, Dept of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #11037; Captain Beckwith quoted in John Austin Stevens, Magazine of American History, 1884, vol 11, p69; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, May 22 and June 4, 1781, p 8-32; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth County's Petitions Against Independence by Michael Adelberg The Declaration of Independence forced Americans to take sides. In the month prior to the Declaration, Monmouth Countians authored and signed nine petitions against independence. - June 1776 - By June 1776, Americans were hotly debating whether or not to declare independence from Great Britain. While a consensus for independence was emerging in large parts of the Thirteen Colonies, there were regions where significant minorities, and even local majorities, opposed independence. Monmouth County was one of those regions. In a time period before public polling, the best tool available for sensing public opinion were petitions to the state legislature (in June 1776, New Jersey’s legislature was the Provincial Congress). Different records of the Provincial Congress convey slightly different totals, but the most comprehensive source suggests that Monmouth Countians authored roughly half of New Jersey’s anti-independence petitions that were sent to the Provincial Congress. We can infer that the question of independence was well-settled in the counties that sent zero petitions. The large number of Monmouth County petitions suggests a deeply divided population in which individuals felt compelled to go on record with their opinions. In total, it appears that Monmouth Countians authored seventeen petitions to the Provincial Congress over a five week period—eight favoring independence and nine opposed. The sentiment of these petitions by township is as follows: Freehold Pro-Independence: 2 / Anti-Independence: 0 Middletown Pro-Independence: 3 / Anti: 4 Shrewsbury Pro-Independence: 2 / Anti: 4 Upper Freehold Pro-Independence: 1 / Anti: 1 Dover & Stafford Pro-Independence: 0 / Anti: 0 Unfortunately, the contents of most of these petitions are lost. The minutes of the Provincial Congress briefly summarizes the contents of the petitions. The brief petition summaries contain information on additional topics beyond independence. For example, a June 12 petition from Monmouth County opposing independence also asked "that none of the militia may be taken out of that county, as it lies so exposed to hostile invasion." This brief statement tells us that Monmouth Countians felt vulnerable to being on the front lines of the expected British invasion, with little to defend them but their own militia. For these petitioners, their vulnerability was a motivation to oppose independence. It appears that only one of the June 1776 anti-independence petitions still exists. In this petition, the petitioners acknowledged: "We daily experience and sincerely lament in common with our fellow inhabitants, the calamitous consequences of the present unhappy controversies with Great Britain.” However, the petitioners suggested that destruction from the coming war would outweigh any potential benefit of independence: We trust, Gentlemen, that you will have the honor, the interest, safety, and welfare of your native country too much at heart to subject this once flourishing and happy province to the reproachful and calamitous consequences of an avowed separation... We are convinced that settlements of separation and independence must not only be highly impolitic, but may be of the most dangerous and destructive consequences. The 47 petition signers are an interesting mix. Several would become Loyalists—including John Taylor—who would serve as a county commissioner for administering loyalty oaths during the Loyalist insurrections of December 1776. Two signers, Morford Taylor and John Van Mater, would flee to the British in the coming weeks. One signer, Timothy Scoby, would become a Loyalist partisan who would be sentenced to death by a Monmouth County court later in the war. Other signers, such as Revaud Kearney, would weather the war at home, but remain disaffected from the new American government. And most interesting, two of the signers, Thomas Wainwright and Hendrick Vanderveer, would become leaders in the Revolutionary movement. In 1777, when the Monmouth militia was re-organized and purged of its Loyalist-leaning officers, they would become a captain and lieutenant respectively. The Monmouth Countians who were most vocal in composing and gathering signatures for the anti-independence petitions eventually paid a price for doing so. When New Jersey’s Provincial Congress adopted a new constitution free of British control on July 2 and the Continental Congress declared independence on July 4, these men were now effectively enemies of their country. John Wardell of Shrewsbury gathered signatures for one petition. The former judge of the courts would be arrested in November 1776, appointed a commissioner for administering British loyalty oaths during the Loyalist insurrection of December, and then arrested again in 1777. The case of William Taylor, as summarized in his postwar Loyalist Compensation Application, provides an even better example of the fate of the men who led anti-independence petitions. Taylor was the son of John Taylor of Middletown, one of the county’s wealthiest men, and the county sheriff through the 1760s. Under Royal Governor William Franklin, William Taylor was the Surrogate of the Monmouth County Courts, a patronage position from which he drew a salary and prestige. As the votes for independence drew closer, Taylor "prevailed upon a great majority of the inhabitants of the Country to sign a counter petition [against independence] and William Taylor, himself, delivered them to a member of Congress." Shortly after the Declaration of Independence, Taylor was confronted and summoned to sign a Loyalty oath, which he refused to do. Taylor would lay low in Middletown for the next few months where he quietly organized a Loyalist association and waited for the right opportunity to support the British Army. His association was broken up in November and Taylor had to flee to the British at Sandy Hook ahead of a party of Monmouth County Continentals led by David Forman. Many of Taylor’s followers were captured and ultimately jailed in far-off Frederick, Maryland. Taylor became an officeholder in Royal Governor William Franklin’s government-in-exile in British-held New York City . He was captured in May 1778. Taylor moved to England at war’s end. Related Historic Site : National Archives (Washington, DC) Sources : Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 215. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984), p 851; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) pp. 470-4; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p135-8; Larry Gerlach, Prologue to Independence: New Jersey in the Coming of the American Revolution (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1976) p 335; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) p 451; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 6, p 1618; Monmouth County Historical Association, Articles File: "Local Facts about the American Revolution Made Public"; Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 241. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984), p 906. Rutgers University Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Compensation Claims, D96, AO 13/112, reel 12. Previous Next

Download Student Packet Beneath the Floorboards: Whispers of the Enslaved at Marlpit Hall Upper Elementary Education Resource Request Teacher Resource NJ Standards Alignment Book a Class Trip! Marlpit Hall, painted by Henry Gulick in 1952 Welcome to Colonial Monmouth! Middletown's Marlpit Hall stands today as a window into the 18th century. This c. 1762 home and its residents witnessed many of the most exciting, inspirational, and painful chapters in our history, from the fight for independence to the heartbreak of slavery. This resource will give students insight into the history of slavery in New Jersey using many of the primary sources used to build the award-winning exhibit, Beneath the Floorboards: Whispers of the Enslaved at Marlpit Hall . This page can only be viewed on a laptop or desktop. It is not enabled for mobile phones. Sorry for the inconvenience! Approaching Marlpit Hall in the 18th Century Let's take a little trip, during which we will be invisible. It is 1778, and you are traveling to Marlpit Hall, the farmhouse owned by the Taylors of Middletown. This means you are either in a wagon or on a horse right now, so be careful and hold tight! There are very few houses in the area at this time, with great distances between them. The dirt road that is Kings Highway can be bumpy and treacherous! If your wagon wheel pops off or you fall from your horse, help is not around the corner! Read More Life Before Enslavement By the mid-1700s, nearly all enslaved people in America were directly from West Africa or the descendants of enslaved Africans. They were removed from a homeland that was rich in culture and magnificent civilizations, such as the Mali empire, dating back thousands of years. West Africans had built a trade empire, and were quite skilled in the areas of art, medicine, and other sciences such as astronomy and mathematics. Europeans began taking Africans against their will for their talents and their labor. The transatlantic slave trade was soon born. Read More Detail of the Catalan Atlas, 1375 They Were There... Scroll over the image to learn about the individual Daily Life The enslaved were deprived of freedom, but found ways to make their lives as meaningful as possible. Aside from daily work, they took comfort in their families and friends. They practiced religion, dreamed, danced, made music, laughed, loved, and formed bonds among themselves and the local community of free blacks and abolitionist whites. Read on to learn about the day-to-day activities and interactions of Monmouth's enslaved. Read on Deep Down in My Heart... The Influence of African Music Then and Now African rhythms came overseas with the first slave ship, and were passed down through generations of enslaved persons. Music was used for communication, celebration, in rituals and expressions of self. The most common type of African song was known as call and response . A singer would call out a line and a response was called back. This style can be heard in the music of today. Listen to the following audio clip to hear an authentic African call and response example, and then listen to the modern examples the follow. Can you think of any other examples of call and response songs today? Next RESISTANCE! The enslaved protested their condition in different ways. Rather than leaving their African heritage behind, they celebrated it through religion, food, and music. Some pretended to be sick or did a poor job of their tasks, such as burning meals or breaking tools. Some fought back when they could. Escaping was also a brave act of resistance. This was a very difficult decision to make; if the runaway was caught, they could be beaten, sold, or thrown in jail. Sometimes the penalty was death, to discourage other slaves from thinking of escaping. Read More SO HOW DO WE KNOW THAT?? Learning with Primary Sources Primary sources are original items created during the time you are studying that help to tell you about that time period. Examples of primary sources are diaries, newspapers, account books, maps, photographs, letters, and artifacts like tools or clothing. They are now voices from the past from someone who lived then, so it makes them an excellent source of information. If you wrote a letter to a friend about what your school experience was like today, that would be a great primary source! Read More - Key Term Card Deck - SLAVERY RESISTANCE TRAVEL PASS ABOLITIONIST MANUMISSION PAPER INDENTURED SERVANT PRIMARY SOURCE INVENTORY SPIRITUALS HOODOO Next Many grateful thanks for the advisory contributions of: Bernadette Rogoff, MCHA Director of Collections Joe Zemla, MCHA Associate Curator Hank Bitten, Executive Director of the New Jersey Council for the Social Studies Dr. Wendy Morales, Assistant Superintendent of the Monmouth and Ocean Educational Commission For class trips or professional development training, please contact Dana at dhowell@monmouthhistory.org