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 Black Loyalists Emigrate to Canada by Michael Adelberg The town of Shelburne and its Port Roseway was a common destination for Black Loyalists in 1783, 28 of whom are identified as being born in Monmouth County. - April 1783 - As discussed in prior articles, Monmouth County had a large African-American population prior to the start of the American Revolution—roughly 10 percent of the population, both slave and free. Free Blacks were generally poor; they are listed as “householders” and “single men” in the tax lists. In an agricultural society where farming was the primary path to wealth—only a few owned enough land to be taxed as landholders. In addition, African-Americans were excluded from the militia and did not meet the property requirements to vote or serve on juries. The first campaign of Monmouth County’s Revolutionary militia was to enforce a curfew on African-Americans and confiscate their guns. When the British fleet landed at Sandy Hook in July 1776, they were soon met by Virginia’s Royal Governor Lord Dunmore and his Ethiopian Brigade. Dunmore had given freedom to the slaves of rebels who would join the British. Within a month, a handful of Monmouth County slaves escaped bondage to join the British as Loyalists. British promises of freedom throughout the war encouraged more slaves to seek their freedom behind British lines. But the British created few good opportunities for these African American Loyalists. Black Loyalists were banned from the British Army and its Loyalist corps. Some served as “pioneers” (manual laborers and earthwork diggers for the Army) and others became sailors. By the middle years of the war, African Americans were common in the irregular Loyalist raiding parties operating out of Sandy Hook. In summer 1780, they confederated as the “Black Brigade ,” conducting their own raids. After the death of their leader, Colonel Tye, in September, the Black Brigade lost cohesion though individual African Americans continued to be active Loyalists. 40 African American Loyalists reportedly joined the Pine Robber gang of William Davenport. African American Loyalists Emigrate to Canada It does not appear that a large number of African Americans boarded the first ships for Canada (in fall 1782 ). Perhaps these earlier groups were mostly self-financed white Loyalists. However, in April 1783, the preliminary terms of the peace treaty reached America and the British started shipping out black Loyalists with greater urgency. This was in large part because Article VII of the peace plan prohibited "carrying away any Negroes or other property of the American inhabitants." A black Loyalist, Boston King, wrote of his worries that American slave owners would take them, "This dreadful rumor filled us with unexpressible anguish and terror." Indeed, George Washington wanted black Loyalists returned. His counterpart, General Guy Carleton and other British leaders claimed that the treaty language did not reverse the status of black Loyalists already free. Carleton wrote, "I have no right to deprive them of that liberty." On April 16, 1783, the remnants of the Black Brigade (49 men, 23 women, 6 children under 10 yrs old) boarded the vessel L'Abondance in Manhattan. The emigres ranged from Sarah, a 72-year-old woman, to small children. Sixteen were from New Jersey and eight from New York. Interestingly, 31 were from southern states and seven were seven years with the British (suggesting they may have arrived at Sandy Hook with Lord Dunmore). Almost half (32) were young adults between the agenda of 16 and 30. At least five of these emigres (probably more) were formerly from Monmouth County: Thomas Drake, 17 yrs old, 5 yrs away from Thomas Thurman; Oliver Vinson, 30 yrs old, 6 yrs away from John Freeman; Sarah Jones, 42 yrs old, 6 yrs away from Richard Stout; Isaac Jones, 10 yrs old, 6 yrs away from Richard Stout; Aaron Jones, 12 yrs old, 6 yrs away from Hendrick Smith. Other transports brought off hundreds more African Americans in spring 1783. In New York, under the leadership of General Samuel Birch, black Loyalists were given passports to Canada and recorded in the Book of Negroes (sometimes called “The Black Books ”). In Canada, attempts were made to list all of the African American Loyalists within a larger effort to log all Loyalist emigres—resulting in a compendium called “Carleton’s Loyalist Index.” The Book of Negroes identifies 24 African American emigres as from Monmouth County. In addition, the baby, Peter Van Sayl, was free born in New York to Monmouth County parents. 21 were born into slavery. Five are listed as former members of the “Black Brigade” (Aaron Jones, Isaac Jones, Sarah Jones, Thomas Drake, Oliver Vinson)—they emigrated with the Black Brigade on the L’Abondance. Two others (Rose French; Jane); are listed as serving in the British Army’s Wagonmaster department. About half had been employed as servants or waiters to comfortable men. The Book of Negroes also includes descriptors of the African Americans similar to the short descriptions in colonial newspapers when advertising the sale of a slave or the return of a runaway slave. For example, 15-year-old Joseph Stewart is listed as a "stout healthy Negro"; 24-year-old Lucy Lykes is listed as a “squat wench”; 27-year-old Judith Johnson is an “ordinary wench.” Since the African Americans were free people (with one exception discussed below), it is unclear what purpose these descriptions served—white Loyalists were not described this way. Three of the African-Americans from Monmouth County have interesting additional information listed about them. Peter Johnson "says he got his freedom from Stephen Brinley, Quaker, New Jersey.” Anthony Loyal is listed as "born free at Monmouth” but was apparently laboring under an indenture: “served his time with William Wikoff, Monmouth County." The most interesting circumstance is that of Betty, a 20-year-old woman. She is listed as having an infant with the additional note: "Conradt Hendricks of St. John's claimant… property proved." Betty had likely escaped from Hendricks during the war, but because Hendricks was a Loyalist, Betty was apparently returned to him. (Slavery was not abolished in Canada until 1834.) Carleton’s Loyalist Index contains much of the same information as The Book of Negroes . But the sources are not identical—each source lists a few emigres not contained in the other source. Further, there are small differences in the names and ages of some emigres. Carleton’s Index also includes additional information: the name of the vessel that transported the emigre, the date of arrival, and the place of settlement. From this, we learn that African American Loyalists were transported on five different vessels between April and October 1783. They settled in six different places. See table 17 for Monmouth County African Americans resettled in Canada. When combined, the two sources place 28 African American emigres as being from Monmouth County. This undercounts the total because the books include a number of emigres and slaveholders with Monmouth County names (e.g., Covenhoven, Longstreet, Hendrickson), but the emigres are listed as from “New Jersey.” Since these names were not exclusive to Monmouth County, these individuals are not included in the table, though it is very likely that some/most were from Monmouth County. The last group of African American Loyalists to leave New York for Canada appear to have left in October 1783. It was a large group—more than 700 emigres—and they were settled in three areas: 102 men, 59 women, and 61 children at St. John; 171 men, 145 women, and 114 children sent to Port Roseway; 84 men, 49 women, and 38 children sent to Annapolis. Interestingly, while there are several surviving land grant lists for white Loyalists, the author has not located land grant information for African Americans. Historian Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli notes that many free blacks were settled in segregated communities like Birchtown outside of Port Roseway (present-day Shelburne). This raises the possibility that the African American emigres were not offered land, but instead they were expected work as laborers and servants to white Loyalists. It has been estimated that 35,000 Loyalists went to Canada at war’s end. More than 10%, roughly 4,000, were African American. Despite affirming the freedom of African American Loyalists, the British, it appears, had no intention of treating African American Loyalists as equal to whites. The move to Canada was hard for nearly all Loyalists, but African Americans faced an added measure of discrimination. Related Historic Site : Shelburne Historic Waterfront District (Nova Scotia) Sources : Mary Tsaltas-Ottomanelli, Black Loyalists in the Evacuation of New York City (The Gotham Center for New York City History, November 15, 2023); Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People, http://blackloyalist.com/canadadigitalcollection/documents/official ; Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People. Book of Negroes http://www.blackloyalist.com/canadiandigitalcollection/documents/official/black_loyalist_directory2.htm ; Black Loyalists: Our History, Our People, http://blackloyalist.com/canadadigitalcollection/documents/official ; Graham R. Hodges, The Black Loyalist Directory: African Americans in Exile after the American Revolution (New York: Garland Publishing, 1996); Runaway Slaves in Carelton’s Loyalist Index, Carleton's Loyalist Index, http://www.uelac.org/SirGuyCarleton/PDF/NEGR_CLI.pdf . 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 > Provisioning the French Fleet Via Rumson by Michael Adelberg Needing provisions, the French Admiral D’Estaing came ashore. He set up a camp at Rumson to receive provisions. D’Estaing was unable to get the provisions his fleet needed and left for Rhode Island. - July 1778 - On July 11, 1778, a large French fleet anchored off Shrewsbury, an opening the connected the Shrewsbury River to the ocean four miles south of Sandy Hook. They came to annihilate the smaller British fleet that had withdrawn inside the Hook. The fleet had a 14-9 advantage in large warships, and their largest ships carried more cannon than any of the British ships. However, the French had two problems: First, they did not know if their large ships could successfully navigate the narrow channel that served as the shipping lane into lower New York Harbor; second, the French fleet was out of fresh water and provisions for their 11,000 men after three months at sea. The need for water was dire. Admiral Charles Henri D’Estaing, leading the fleet, wrote, “the leakage, waste and pilferage of the food, and excessive consumption, as well as several irregularities in the plan for water, left us little.” He was disappointed that local boats did not greet the fleet: "We received hardly any advice or signal, no ship from Long Island or the Jersies was zealous enough to come." So, D’Estaing decided to personally lead a landing party on July 12. The apparent destination was the freshwater spring immediately south of Sandy Hook on the Navesink Highlands, often identified as “the watering place” on maps. The French Come Ashore in Monmouth County To get there, the French likely sought to send the landing party through “the Gut ”—a channel of water that, due to violent storms the prior winter, now separated Sandy Hook from the mainland. D’Estaing was advised that the watering place was within reach: “A pilot gave to us by the Americans assured us we could cross the bar at Sandy Hook and get water there." The Gut, however, likely had a strong flow that created novel currents and sand bars on the ocean side. These new hazards were probably unknown to the pilot. The attempt to traverse the Gut was a fiasco—boats overturned and men drowned in the fast water. Samuel Cooper wrote: “he [D’Estaing] threw himself into a small Boat… the Navigation of which was so extremely difficult, as to cost him an Officer, many Sailors, and a Number of Boats." The expedition was made worse by the appearance of British troops who blocked the French from escaping the fast water by coming onto Sandy Hook. D’Estaing wrote: “The cavalry and infantry of the English appeared on the coast with the bar, preventing us from landing.” On the far side of the Gut, British ships were close enough for D’Estaing to see their flags. The French had to retreat. The second landing was at Black Point (present-day Rumson). The French entered the Shrewsbury River. Lieutenant Jean-Julien Chevalier LeMauff, with the Admiral, described the journey: The Admiral himself went down in the morning into this river with two boats fit out to reconnoiter the country, which appeared to us well peopled, as we lacked fresh victuals of every kind, and even water, having passed three months at sea. Across the river at Black Point (Rumson), D’Estaing first met the locals. The Admiral recalled: I was received by a few foot soldiers; after a short time, which seemed very long to me, I was received by a Quaker , 'A friend of Everybody in the World', but more a friend of the English than Americans, proved to me by his remarks and by the tea he gave me, which I did not find very good. I was able by this undertaking to make contact with several of the best Patriots, and the acquaintance of the dirty river Shrewsbury, as well as getting some fresh water from the wells. D’Estaing’s host was probably John Hartshorne, a prominent Quaker who lived near the probable French landing point. Hartshorne’s granddaughter, Lulu, recalled what she was told about John Hartshorne meeting D’Estaing. Hartshorne “brought him [D’Estaing] and some officers home to breakfast, one [French officer] was quartered at the house a considerable time, a very Gentlemanly intelligent man -- spoke English very well." D’Estaing needed to establish an outpost in order to “find water and to establish correspondence with General Washington.” LeMauff described that outpost. The next morning the General sent me with a detachment to employ the means of watering there by wells; to accomplish this daily we had a detachment of 250 men, 4 cannons, and some swivel guns mounted on carriages. The inhabitants being American but, in number, several to be found who are Royalists, we feared that some English detachments might come to attack us. One of the locals of ambiguous loyalty was Benjamin White. He wrote of the French: A French fleet came to anchor off Jumping Point and sent their boats ashore for water. They were cut off by the British fleet from obtaining the watering places [closer to Sandy Hook]. I assisted them in carting their empty casks, filling them and returning through the surf. A Loyalist newspaper, the New York Gazette , reported on another meeting. A Scot naval officer serving in the French fleet "went ashore at Shrewsbury; the inhabitants finding he spoke good English crowded to converse with him." The officer was reportedly condescending toward them. Further, "he looked upon their independence as only a dream, for France or Britain must have this Country." From Philadelphia, Cooper wrote of D’Estaing’s cool reception from disaffected locals: Not a person had come to him from the Shore: That part of the Jerseys had not then the Reputation of the greatest Zeal for the common Cause: Nothing presented itself to the Squadron of our Allies, unacquainted with our Coasts, but an inaccessible Shore. Continental Government Sends Supplies to French As the French procured a trickle of provisions from people living along the Shrewsbury River, the Continental Congress sought to provide more. On July 12, Richard Henry Lee of Congress wrote D’Estaing: A commissary has orders quickly to collect 50 bullocks and 700 sheep with a quantity of vegetables and a number of poultry, and he will wait on your Excellency to know your pleasure... I am to inform you that in Little Egg Harbor or Toms River, neither of them far from the Hook, fresh water may be conveniently obtained. George Washington also sought to get supplies to the French, writing a commissary on July 15: I desire you immediately to select Fifty of your best Bullocks, and give orders to have two hundred Sheep, if to be procured and a quantity of poultry purchased in the most convenient part of the Country. They are intended as a present to the Count D'Estaing Admiral of the French Fleet now laying off Sandy Hook. You are to send them to the Coast as expeditiously as possible. The French diplomat at Philadelphia, Conrad Alexandre Gerard, also sought to get supplies to the fleet after receiving a list of needs from D’Estaing: "I have curtailed the salted beef because it is not in abundance this season” but he advised the Admiral of local supplies “of fresh meat for your crews at a better price than that of salted meat. We expect to be able to furnish almost all the articles; however, it will take several days.” Curiously, Gerard asked D’Estaing to buy him a slave: “Sir, if there are some negroes for sale in this country… have the goodness to send [one to] me.” Lee again wrote D'Estaing on July 16 that Congress was sending "a supply of water and fresh provisions… with all possible expedition.” A French frigate in the Delaware Bay, Chimera , with local vessels, “will be dispatched immediately with as much water as we can find Casks for.” Beyond that, Lee noted: The same vessels will bring your Excellency some hundred barrels of bread and flour, with a small supply of fresh provisions. A Commissary has orders quickly to collect near Shrewsbury and the Hook 50 Bullocks, 700 Sheep, with a quantity of vegetables and a number of poultry. Lee reminded D’Estaing that “fresh water can be conveniently obtained" at Toms River and Egg Harbor. On the same day, one of Monmouth County’s leading patriots, David Forman, arrived at the French outpost. Capt. Choin of the French Army introduced him to D’Estaing: "We are sending you a Colonel from the militia who knows the [Shrewsbury] river, but he arrives by only one horse and carriage” to avoid attracting attention of the British. John Laurens reached Shrewsbury the next day. Colonel John Laurens, the son of the President of the Congress, had “taken quarters at Shrewsbury" to help the French. He went aboard the French fleet accompanied by Forman. In a July 17 letter, Laurens noted that Forman had already been out to see the French. He said of Forman: “A Gentleman for whom I have the highest esteem on account of his indefatigability and great sacrifices... He is a man of enlightened understanding." Laurens also wrote of the difficulties in finding provisions for the French: I found the fleet under the greatest difficulty in procuring water; its distance from the shore was too great to role [sic] the casks down to the place of embarkation; the disaffected citizens either refused their wagons or granted them only at an exorbitant price. In addition, the French suffered some losses while rowing heavily-laden boats through the surf to their ships. On July 15, "4 seamen of the Aimable were drowned in passing the bar.” The next day, “Our large dinghy stove [overturned] on the bar, two men drowned and several sheep." The promised livestock had not reached the French on July 18. That day, Reverend James Caldwell, a New Jersey delegate to the Continental Congress, was at Freehold: “I have just received General Washington's order from Congress to send the Admiral 50 best bullocks, 200 sheep, poultry & I am preparing to transmit this well-timed present in the best manner I can.” The traffic of small vessels from Shrewsbury Inlet to the fleet was watched by the British. Rear Admiral James Gambier, wrote about it on July 19: “The [French] fleet have been ever since watering at the mouth of Shrewsbury River near the Navesink, where they appear to do it with great convenience and dispatch.” The British were also debriefed by a Loyalist fisherman, Samuel DeHart, who “was taken Prisoner… fishing of[f] the Sea Bass bank.” DeHart said that “Washington made the Fleet a present of 500 fat oxen—the French have landed a great many Troops in the Jerseys." DeHart was partially correct. On July 21, Reverend Caldwell wrote that he finally gathered and drove the requested livestock to the French fleet. "Yesterday got them [cattle] on board, the sheep and poultry not gathered on time." He also wrote that the French had “a very plentiful supply of hard money, and easily tempted the Monmouth people to prepare to this market." In a second letter, Caldwell noted that the French did not want the sheep he brought them, "told me he had a supply of sheep waiting in another way.” The provisions made it on board the French fleet just in time for it to leave for Rhode Island. Caldwell was angry. The French “stripped, then sunk or burnt" the captured fishing boats and kept the local fishermen they had taken "except young Samuel DeHart whom I happened to see while I was on board." Caldwell likely did not know that DeHart was a British informer. Caldwell wrote that Captain Patrick Dennis was told that captured fishermen would be “sent ashore for trial by their Country & it was consented.” Perhaps the French better knew the danger of placing men like DeHart on parole until a trial could be arranged. The Jersey Shore Responds to the French Fleet The arrival of the French fleet was big news up and down the Jersey Shore. Whig villages like Chestnut Neck (upriver from Little Egg Harbor ) and Toms River sent pilots and ships to the French. But the villages were tiny in comparison to the needs of the French fleet. For example, Captain Samuel Brown of Forked River sailed out of Toms River, “his boat was intended for the fleet to ferry her their [American] signals.” The arrival of the French fleet chased the British off the Jersey shore and that unleashed several small privateers and militia boats previously blockaded in New Jersey’s small ports. This is well-documented by maritime historian Donald Shomette, who wrote: "The French alliance ingited a dramatic escalation in the number of active privateers and a stunning increase in British losses." Prizes taken by American privateers jumped from 128 in 1778 to 298 in 1780. The unleashing of local privateers in summer 1778 is evident in New Jersey Admiralty Court advertisements and the letters of John Van Emburgh, a privateer owner at Toms River. He wrote of privateers entering and leaving port in July 1778. The departure of the British was the reason: “The enemy vessels has now left the bar [off Toms River] … the privateers are again out.” The French Quit Sandy Hook The French decision to quit Sandy Hook for Rhode Island was forced by the realization that their large ships were ill-suited for entering the channel north of Sandy Hook, but inadequate provisions likely hastened this decision. D’Estaing wrote Washington about this on August 3: “The extreme difficulty of procuring water at Shrewsbury, and the tardiness with which it is collected from different places, have long since obliged me to retrench our allowance.” The British understood this also. On July 23, the day after the French left for Rhode Island, three British ships went to the abandoned French outpost. Captain James Parker wrote: Three of our ships ly [sic] where the French lay yesterday. A Fisherman came up, says he was taken by the French & has been a week with them. Says they landed their sick at Shrewsberry, about 4 or 500, that they wanted water & could only get trifling supply from thence. While New Jersey and Continental leaders did their best to supply the French, the Shrewsbury Inlet anchorage was too far from commissaries to promptly bring them the needed provisions. The disaffection of the Shrewsbury shore compounded the problem. The inability to trust the residents of Shrewsbury would soon push Washington to station a company of Continentals there. Related Historic Site: Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : Judith M. Olsen, Lippincott, Five Generations of the Descendants of Richard and Abigail Lippincott (Woodbury, N.J.: Gloucester County Historical Society, 1982) pp. 159-61; Samuel Cooper to Ben Franklin, Ben Franklin Papers online: http://franklinpapers.org/franklin/framedVolumes.jsp?vol=37&page=240a002 ; Journal of LIeutenant Jean-Julien Chevalier LeMauf, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 359-360; Henri Doniol, ed., Histoire de la Participation de la France à l'Établissement des États Unis d'Amérique: Correspondance Diplomatique et Documents, 5 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1876–99), vol. 3, p. 447-9; Lulu Hartshorne’s account is in Monmouth County Historical Association, Collection #86, box 1, folder 21; Henri D’Estaing to George Washington, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 369-370; Jedidiah Huntington, Huntington Papers, Connecticut History Society Collections, vol. 20 (1923), p 411; George Washington to Jeremiah Wadsworth, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw120217)) ; Alexandre Gerard in Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 397; Richard Henry Lee to Henri D’Estaing in Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 359-360; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Charles Paulin, Out-Letters of the Marine Committee and Board of Admiralty (New York: Navy History Society, 1914) vol. 1, p 267; James Caldwell to Elias Boudinot, Library of Congress, Elias Boudinot Coll. Letters; Capt. Choin to Henri D’Estaing in Henri Doniol, ed., Histoire de la Participation de la France à l'Établissement des États Unis d'Amérique: Correspondance Diplomatique et Documents, 5 vols. (Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1876–99), vol. 3, p. 327-32; John Laurens, The Army Correspondence of Colonel John Laurens in the years 1777-8 (New York: New York Times, 1969) pp. 206-7; The loss of French boats is documented in the Logbook of the Languedoc, printed in Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 233; James Gambier to Earl of Sandwich in Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 465; Interrogation of Samuel DeHart, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 527; United State Naval Academy, Rosenbach Coll., James Caldwell; James Caldwell to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 50, July 23, 1778; Capt James Parker, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Naval History Foundation: Washington DC, 2018) vol 13, p 480; Henri D’Estaing to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw120322)) . 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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 > New York Tories Find Refuge in Shrewsbury by Michael Adelberg Isaac Lowe served in the 1st Continental Congress and led protests against British policies, but he did not support independence. Fearing for his safety, he left New York for Shrewsbury. - July 1776 - The arrival of the British fleet on June 29 set the Loyalists of New York and New Jersey in motion. In Monmouth County, some Loyalists assembled and joined the British Army on Sandy Hook. However, many other Loyalists, due to age or preference, had no interest in serving in the British Army. They sought a place of safety as they came under increasing scrutiny from the Revolutionary governments of New York and New Jersey. Shrewsbury, where resistance to the Continental cause was well known, was such a place. New Yorkers Hide in Shrewsbury Township The first evidence of New York Loyalists seeking refuge in Shrewsbury is in the minutes of the New York Convention. On July 18, that body recorded “that John L. C. Roome requests that he may be sent a prisoner, on his parole, to Shrewsbury.” It is not recorded whether Roome’s relocation to Shrewsbury was approved, but he was in Shrewsbury, with or without consent, a week later. On July 26, Governor William Livingston wrote to Samuel Tucker, President of the New Jersey Convention: I have authentic information that some of the most malignant New York Tories have seated themselves in Shrewsbury; a very improper place on account of the facility it affords for keeping up a communication with the Enemy. Isaac Lowe and one Roome [John Roome] are particularly mentioned. That same day, Nathaniel Woodhull of New York Convention informed George Washington and the New Jersey Convention that New York Loyalists were seeking refuge in Shrewsbury. Woodhull had deposed Balthazar DeHart, a lawyer who practiced in the Monmouth County courts. He reported: When he [DeHart] left Shrewsbury, far the greater part of that place was inhabited, or rather, infested, with Tories... he has understood that their disaffection has been greatly increased by a number of persons who have gone from New York, and secretly labored to deceive the lower set of people, the higher being almost all disaffected. Woodhull named some of the Loyalists: Isaac Low, William Walton, Anthony Van Damm, John Roome, William Kipping, and [?] Hullet "a dance master." Woodhull also reported on the activities of Shrewsbury Loyalists: Joseph Wardell, John Corlies, and George Allen, went the week before last, or last week, to General Howe's camp, on Staten-Island, after, as they pretended, two negroes, who had run away from William Kipping and the said John Corlies; that they stayed some time there. The “negroes were delivered to them by Howe's order” which Woodhull took as proof that the Shrewsbury residents had pledged themselves Loyal to the British King (a prior British order said that slaves of rebels who agreed to serve the British cause would be freed, but slaves of Loyalists would not be freed. This might have increased unrest in Shrewsbury’s Black community). Dealing with New Yorkers in Shrewsbury Township On August 5, the New York Government sought to stop the further migration of Loyalists to New Jersey. It issued a public notice banning unauthorized travel: "No person whatsoever, either male or female, above the age of 14 will be permitted to pass to the State of New Jersey without a proper pass." The notice was not only printed in New York newspapers, it was also printed in Philadelphia papers. In 1776, New Jersey had no newspaper. Calls were made to the New Jersey government to take action against the New York Loyalists in Shrewsbury and the disaffected providing refuge to those Loyalists. On August 7, an anonymous New Yorker wrote Governor Livingston: I have received repeated information that a number of persons known to be inimical to the cause of the United States, or of suspicious character, have lately removed from this place [New York] into the County of Monmouth in New Jersey, with intent, no doubt, of communicating with and aiding our enemies. That same day, George Washington wrote the New Jersey Legislature a very similar letter (suggesting collaboration between the New Yorker and Washington’s aide-de-camp): I have received repeated information that a number of persons known to be inimical to the cause of the American States or of suspicious character have lately removed from this and other places to the County of Monmouth with the intent, no doubt... of communicating with and aiding the enemy. I must urge the necessity of your Congress of adopting the same measure [for arresting Loyalists] in all those parts of the Province that are contiguous to the enemy. Nine days later, George Washington wrote to the Councils of Safety of New York and New Jersey: I am informed, that in Consequence of my Letter acquainting you that a number of Persons deemed unfriendly to the Interests of America, were suspected of holding a Correspondence with the Enemy from Shrewsbury and its Neighborhood; Mr. Isaac Low late of this City has been apprehended, and is now detained under some kind of Confinement. Isaac Lowe was arrested, but released three days later. Without a sheriff [sheriff Elisha Lawrence was with the British] or functioning courts, it fell to the Monmouth County Committee to take action against the New York Loyalists in Shrewsbury and their local collaborators. On August 24, John Holmes of the Shrewsbury Township Committee sent a lengthy letter to Woodhull summarizing the Committee’s actions. Holmes broadly agreed with Woodhull’s characterization of disaffection in Shrewsbury: “Many parts of the County are exceedingly infested with Tories of the most inveterate disposition, owing in great measure to the malign influence of our late Attorney General.” This was reference to Courtland Skinner, the Attorney General under the Royal government, who was courting Loyalists to join the New Jersey Volunteers , of which he was named its Brigadier General. Holmes further suggested that the Shrewsbury township committee was, itself, disaffected and not to be trusted. As a result, the County Committee “constituted a sub-committee from our body, who are authorized to cite every inhabitant of New York within the Township of Shrewsbury to appear before them, and show cause why they not be immediately removed." John Holmes also discussed the three disaffected Shrewsbury residents who had visited the British Army on Staten Island to retrieve the runaway slaves: “They went under Col. [George] Taylor's permission, who granted them a flag [permission]; they had not been qualified. We have put them under oath, and have not been able to make any very important discoveries." Holmes discussed attempts to curb illegal trade with the British: A number of armed vessels have frequently been at anchor and hovering near the coast, and we have no doubt have had frequent intercourse with and supplies from the disaffected from this County... Our guards are now on the spot, and we have given orders that all stock be immediately driven from all beaches, we flatter ourselves that the enemy will be disappointed in any future attempt to procure provisions. Holmes claimed that "Gen. [Hugh] Mercer has arrived with a Continental guard at Shrewsbury, who have orders to seize and detain all craft belonging to said shores, and to apprehend such suspicious persons ...several arrests have been made." Continental Army records mention Continental guards in Shrewsbury but do not document General Mercer being at Shrewsbury.) However, Holmes’s account of driving livestock from the shore is corroborated by the records of the New Jersey Convention which, on July 23, recorded: Unanimously resolved and directed that the County Committee of Monmouth proceed, without delay, to remove all stock on their coast which may be in danger of falling into the hands of the enemy, back into the country. Holmes concluded that the events in Shrewsbury were exhausting the County Committee: "We have spent more time and undergone more vexation and fatigue than any other Committee of this State." The Monmouth County Committee likely uncovered some of the New Yorkers, but did not root out all of them. On December 3, 1776, Robert Bowne of Queens, New York, sent a letter from Shrewsbury to his brother in New York. Bowne summarized his status “in this time of great calamity,” he wrote: I have endeavored to avoid giving offence to any, have associated with very few, which I have found to be much the safest as there are many warm persons near us that are scratching at everything they can take the least advantage of to distress those who do not approve of their violent and unjust proceedings. He also discussed other New Yorkers still hiding in Shrewsbury. “The New Yorkers have all been threatened that they should be drove away from this quarter, tho' they [Whigs] have never put it in execution; many that was here have returned to New York.” The disaffection in Shrewsbury revealed in the letters of Woodhull and Holmes would soon be corroborated by the actions of a large association of Loyalists at Long Branch. Historic Site : Christ Church Sources : New York Committee of Safety, July 18, 1776, Convention, Committee of Safety and Council of Safety of the state of New-York : 1775-1777, 2 vols., (Albany : Thurlow Weed, printer to the State, 1842) v. 1, item 541; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 107; 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 602-3; The Library Company, Pennslyvania Ledger, vol. 1, Jan. 1775-Nov. 1776; Paul Burgess, A Colonial Scrapbook; the Southern New Jersey Coast, 1675-1783 (New York, Carlton Press, 1971) pp 109; John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 5, p 388; Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) p 7; New Jersey Convention resolve, 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 1651; Library of Congress, George Wahsington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw050383)) ; 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 1534-5; Rutgers University Special Collections, Robert Bowne, AC 1246. 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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 > Lt. Colonel Gurney's Campaign Against Monmouth Loyalists by Michael Adelberg Francis Gurney led a regiment of Pennsylvanians on a month-long campaign during which he scattered Loyalists and seized large amounts of provisions intended for the British Army. - January 1777 - On January 2, 1777, Pennsylvania troops, under Lt. Colonel Francis Gurney, routed the newly-raised Loyalist militia of Monmouth County in a short battle just east of Freehold. Yet even with the Loyalist militia scattered, other aspects of the embryonic Loyalist regime remained in place in Middletown and Shrewsbury —at least until Gurney toppled them. Dispersing the Remaining Armed Loyalists A week after the battle near Freehold, a group of armed Loyalists caught the attention of the Continental Army. On January 9, General Israel Putnam, stationed at Crosswicks, wrote: “The Tories of Monmouth County are again in arms, Col. Gurney marched today to suppress them; the militia of the neighborhood of Cranbury are embodied and impatient to join and assist them." Two days later, Putnam reported to Congress on the continued Loyalist threat: The Tories of Monmouth are making great head, ravaging and plundering and disarming the well-affected inhabitants. I have sent off 200 men with Colonel Gurney, he will be joining some of the militia. I have no doubt of hearing of his success in a day or two. The location of the armed Loyalists is not stated but it is probable that they were based near present-day Matawan. A Loyalist association led by the wealthy merchant Thomas Kearney was operating there. This part of Monmouth County was near the British Army base at Perth Amboy and there are mentions in antiquarian sources of a stockyard there for supplying the British. One of Gurney’s soldiers, Robert Strain, recalled seizing a ship, presumably near the stockyard. “They went to Middletown NJ where they took a prize supposed to be worth 100,000 pounds, and which supplied the whole army all winter." Gurney likely scattered the Loyalists near Matawan and then moved on. By January 14, he was in Shrewsbury where he scattered another Loyalist party. He then wrote to Putnam to request a cannon and wagons: I must beg you Immediately send me one field piece. I find the enemy have not got their vessels out of the creek [Shrewsbury River], and should the Artillery come in time have no doubt of taking them. We have more plunder or rather King’s stores than we can get wagons to carry off. I wish you would send forward all the wagons you can collect. I would advise a company to be sent to the Court House in order to press wagons and bring them down. Gurney also warned about a future confrontation with Loyalists: “I am just now Informed that the Enemy have landed a party at Red Bank to the northward of Black Point, and am determined to march that way immediately with about one hundred men.” The next day, a party of Pennsylvanians under Colonel Richard Humpton chased a Loyalist group into a waiting boat. The Loyalists “were obliged to make a precipitate retreat on board the English men of war.” The Curious Case of the Good Intent Gurney also wrote the Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty (New Jersey lacked an Admiralty Court until 1778) a lengthy letter about the schooner, Good Intent , commanded by Captain Sands. The vessel was “employed to transport supplies to the Fleet and Army of the King of Great Britain” until it beached near Black Point. Gurney took possession of the vessel and claimed its cargo of sugar, spirits, and clothing as a “lawful Prize & Booty of War.” He asked the court to consider the capture so that it “may be adjudged and condemned as forfeited and a lawful Prize." According to depositions taken by Gurney, the Good Intent went from Jamaica to Sandy Hook and communicated with the Light House. But it was too far away to be protected when a French privateer under Captain Morderet chased it. The Good Intent beached at Black Point. A sailor from the Good Intent testified: That after landing they all went up to a small house & there slept that Night. That the next Day they applied to the Inhabitants for assistance and about eighty or a hundred came down for that Purpose & got on Shore a very considerable Part of the Cargo. From Sandy Hook, the British saw the activity. They “sent a Tender & two armed Boats to prevent the same means from saving any more of the Cargo & Destroy the Vessel.” But the crew of the Good Intent and locals (many of whom were likely disaffected from Continental cause) now fought the British in order to preserve the valuable cargo and vessel. The sailor testified that the British “were beat off by the Americans. This deponent & two of the Crew took arms to assist in beating off the Enemy.” With his vessel in the hands of Whigs, the owner of the Good Intent , D. Chenier, issued a public notice: To all Persons whom it may or shall concern in the Monmouth County in the Jerseys, Be pleased to deliver Capt. Sands the sundry articles saved from the Schooner Good Intent cast on Shore from Jamaica as he commanded that Vessel. The status of the Good Intent was not quickly decided. As late as 1779, the Pennsylvania Court of Admiralty was seeking to determine who was entitled to the vessel and its cargo. Benjamin Randolph, a merchant from Toms River, testified that he was releasing his claim to the vessel’s cargo, some of which was stored with him. Randolph suggested that he was the one who told Gurney of the vessel and Loyalist stores at Shrewsbury. Randolph also said he “went to Black Point, took some Prisoners & returning found some stores at the House of one Hartshorne [probably Esek Hartshorne].” Randolph suggested that the French privateer did not have a valid claim to the vessel because he accepted a lesser payment: ”While the wagons were loading, Morderet asked leave to put a little box of his on the wagons and go to Philadelphia and had leave.” It is unknown whether the Good Intent and its cargo were condemned to Gurney, Sands, or Morderet. It is unlikely that Chenier received any compensation for the lost vessel. Like the Betsy , profiled in an earlier article, the Good Intent shows how complicated it was to determine ownership of captured vessels. Capturing Loyalist Stores While Gurney was at Shrewsbury, Col. Humpton’s Pennsylvania soldiers entered Monmouth County and seized Loyalist stores on January 15. The Pennsylvania Journal & Weekly Advertiser reported: “A party of Col. Humpton's Regiment… went to Shrewsbury in Monmouth, where they took a large quantity of cloth and other stores collected by a sett of Tories, who infest that county.” Sergeant William Young, a prisoner of the British at Perth Amboy, reported on January 18: “Colonel Gurney has taken 90 baggage Wagons… 9 of the 90 wagons taken from the Enemy by Colonel Gurney are ammunition wagons.” General Putnam also wrote of Gurney’s windfall on the same day: He has taken a good quantity of stores that were sent there for the Tories enlisted under Morris [John Morris] and Lawrence [Elisha Lawerence] – thirty-five wagon loads of which have arrived at Crosswicks, and the Col supposes that about one hundred wagon loads still remaining; he discovers more daily -- they chiefly consist of rum, wine, pork and broad cloth. I have thought it best to let Lt. Col. Gurney stay down where he is, until the militia of that county are well-embodied, so as to be able to defend themselves. On January 20, Putnam noted receiving three prisoners from Shrewsbury – two were junior officers in the New Jersey Volunteers , John Throckmorton and Charles Cook. The third was none other than Colonel Charles Read. Read was the Burlington County militia colonel who led campaigns against Upper Freehold Loyalists in July and Shrewsbury Loyalists in November. After being confronted by Monmouth County’s Colonel David Forman and refusing to take a loyalty oath to the Continental government, Read sought to go over to the British. But he was taken by the Continental Army and detained. Read had been “discharged on giving his word not to quit Phila without leave.” Caesar Rodney at Trenton wrote on January 23 that Gurney had taken "a very large quantity of stores that were lodged there [Shrewsbury] and guarded by Skinner's Jersey Volunteers. Forty wagon loads of them arrived at Princetown, a great quantity of clothes and other English goods." The next day, General Putnam wrote Gurney about "Mr. Crane at Toms River” who “has collected a number of men and seized a quantity of wine.” Putnam asked Gurney to coordinate with Crane on the seizure. The enthusiasm with which the Pennsylvanians confiscated goods placed them at odds with leading local Whigs at least once. On January 29, Gurney wrote Daniel Hendrickson, the colonel of the Shrewsbury militia: "I am sorry that your man did not stay by the wagon; there is not the least foundation for us keeping the wagon, and let it be found where it will; you shall not only have it and the horses, but be paid for the hire of the team." Gurney, it appears, seized Hendrickson's wagon and team by accident. Gurney’s campaign was important enough to be reported in the newspapers of far-away cities. The Providence Gazette reported that “a party of our men under the command of General Putnam have taken 96 wagons at Monmouth, in New Jersey, loaded with baggage and belonging to the parcel of Tories." The Virginia Gazette half-correctly reported that Gurney “has retaken all the Hessian plunder which was stored at Shrewsbury meeting-house, with their clothes and necessaries, to the amount of 120 wagon loads." This report reveals that the Christ Church in Shrewsbury, a focal point of Loyalism before the war, remained so during the Loyalist insurrection. An inventory of one of Gurney’s wagon trains was compiled by Captain Francis Wade, the newly-installed Continental Commissary at Allentown. The caravan carried: “55 barrels of fresh pork, 59 sacks of peas, 3 turces of rice, 1 half-pipe of wine, 7 casks of rum, 3 barrels of sugar, 1 cask of limes, 17 hatchets, 2 iron pots, 3 iron kettles, and a half cask of oil.” Its total value was £905. Wade also noted that 20 casks of rum had already "went forward by Colo. Humpton to Morristown" and one pipe of wine and sugar was sent ahead to Philadelphia. The End of the Campaign By the end of January, Gurney was back in Freehold. General Putnam wrote to Congress about the improved conditions in Monmouth County: "The affairs in Monmouth wears a favorable aspect. The people of that County will again return to their duties. Col. Forman is sent there to command and put them in proper state of defence." Gurney’s campaign occurred without the Monmouth County militia, which had dissolved during the December Loyalist insurrections. But one Monmouth Countian, Dr. Nathaniel Scudder, was an important guide for Gurney. Scudder described his role: I myself marched with them until the enemy was entirely dispersed & their stores at Middletown seized, when I was obliged to attend at Freehold, on both account of furnishing a team to haul them [Tory stores] off & endeavor to rally the militia of the county. When Gurney left Monmouth County on February 5, Scudder wrote a thank you note that was printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette “expressing my gratitude to Col. Gurney” for his service in “a country where so many of the inhabitants were inimical to the cause.” Scudder continued: I have the greatest reason to think the salvation of the property and security of the persons of many friends of freedom [are]… owed to the spirited exertions of the two detachments which marched into Monmouth. In short, those detachments have rescued the county from the tyranny of the Tories and put it in the power of their own militia to recover and embody themselves in such a manner as to be able to stand on their own defence. Indeed, Gurney’s campaign was a great success. Monmouth County would never again have a Loyalist association capable of governing. Whether, as Scudder suggests, the Monmouth militia was ready to defend the county is another matter; the newly-reconstituted Monmouth militia would suffer its worst defeat of the war only a week later, at the Battle of the Navesink . Related Historic Site : Christ Church Sources : Letter, General Israel Putnam, January 9, 17777, viewed at http://www.fold3.com/image/#18947576 (original at the National Archives); National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Brewer of PA, www.fold3.com/image/#10976408 ; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 4, p 771; Francis Gurney vs. The Schooner Good Intent, Tam Ploy Claimant, Register of the Court of the Admiralty of State of Pennsylvania, Jan. 28, 1779, transcribed by Michael White; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 386; Pennsylvania Archives, Papers Relating to the War of the Revolution,1859, v 3, p89; Pennsylvania Archives, Series 1, Vol V, p186; Francis Gurney vs. The Schooner Good Intent, Tam Ploy Claimant, Register of the Court of the Admiralty of State of Pennsylvania, Jan. 28, 1779, transcribed by Michael White; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, p 277; Letters of William Young, The Pennsylvanian Magazine of History And Biography. Vol.VIII, 1884, p269; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 178, item 159, #35; Pennsylvania Archives, Series 2, Vol I, pg 496; Caesar Rodney, Letters to and from Caesar Rodney 1756–1784, ed. George Herbert Ryden (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1933), pp. 170-1; Israel Putnam to Francis Gurney, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; Rutgers University Special Collections, Francis Gurney to Daniel Hendrickson, Hendrickson Papers, box 2; Providence Gazette, February 1, 1777; Virginia Gazette, February 7, 1777; The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 8, 6 January 1777 – 27 March 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 185–186; Francis Wade, Inventory, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/P?mgw:7:./temp/~ammem_XXqo ::; Pennsylvania Archives, Series I, v5, p209; David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 49; Gaillard Hunt, Fragments of Revolutionary History (Brooklyn: Historical Publishing Club, 1892) pp. 112-5; Pennsylvania Gazette, February 17, 1777 (CD-ROM at the David Library, #23302). 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 > Loyalist "Manstealing" Peaks and the Rise of Colonel Tye by Michael Adelberg In 1780, Loyalist raiding parties began “manstealing” Monmouth County’s patriots, including 16 militia officers. Captured Americans were confined in dismal prisons and prison ships. - May 1780 - As noted in a prior article, " manstealing " in Monmouth County started in early 1780 when small parties of Loyalist raiders, outside the control of the British Army, began kidnapping Monmouth County local leaders. While militia officers were not the only men captured, Loyalist parties often targeted militia officers. Through the spring and summer of 1780, man-stealings, at minimum, resulted in the capture of ten militia officers—Lt. Colonel John Smock, Maj. Hendrick Van Brunt (taken a second time), Captains James Green, Barnes Smock, Jacob Covenhoven, Thomas Wainwright, and Lieutenants Thomas Cook (taken a third time), Thomas Little (taken a second time), James Walling, and James Wall. The manstealings were so pervasive and feared that militia officers started resigning. On May 11, Thomas Wainwright, one of Shrewsbury Township’s captains, wrote Governor William Livingston: My living here is uncertain and I find it is not in my power any longer to make my commission, I am threatened of being taken and carried to New York and can't rest quietly in my bed, I should be glad [if] your Excellency would favor me, as it is difficult for me to be active [while] living on the lines. I am not only in danger of being taken off any night by the Tories, but am in so poor a state of health that I am not able to undergo the hardships of being a soldier. If your Excellency would please to excuse me from serving, I shall take kindly… Our fighting men are most of them killed or taken prisoner. I shall, if not excused from serving, be under the necessity of leaving my family and retiring into the country, for if I should be taken and put in prison under my present state of health, I should not live long, and I have served my country at every call, whenever we had any prospect of dealing with them I took it upon a hardship to be enlisted, as I am the only officer left on the lines. Wainwright’s resignation did not protect him; he was captured several weeks later. In hindsight, it is apparent that the primary driver of manstealing was the rise of irregular Loyalist raiding parties that adopted kidnapping as their default activity. But, in the moment, some Monmouth County leaders blamed prisoner exchanges , and officers who arranged them (such as Colonel Asher Holmes), as the cause of manstealing. Exemplifying this point of view, David Forman called exchanges “replete with evil.” He argued that “with every exchange made, we give encouragement to that British mode of manstealing, once gone into, will always enable them to hold a large ball of prisoners against us." In August, 1780, manstealing climaxed. Middletown’s most important Whig family, the Smocks, were particularly targeted. The New York Royal Gazette reported on August 23: “Yesterday were brought into this town a Colonel and Major Smock, of the Monmouth County militia, one of these was of the community of Associated Retaliators upon the Tories." The New Jersey Gazette reported on the same incident, "Hendrick Smock, Esquire, and Lieut. Col. John Smock of Monmouth County, were lately made prisoners by a party of the enemy from Sandy Hook and carried to New York." The third senior member of the Smock family, Captain Barnes Smock, was taken two months earlier. Colonel Tye: The Greatest Manstealer As discussed in another article, Colonel Tye, likely the former Shrewsbury slave, Titus, was the most successful Loyalist irregular in Monmouth County’s local war. In summer of 1780, he led a group of African-American Loyalist irregulars based on Sandy Hook called the Black Brigade. Tye was their honorific Colonel. They conducted a string of raids into Monmouth County that included at least sixteen captures. The raids are summarized in table 10 . In five documented raids over three months, Tye’s parties captured at least sixteen men. The captives included two men who served in the New Jersey Legislature (James Mott and Hendrick Smock), four militia officers (Lt. Col. John Smock, Capt. Barnes Smock, Lt. James Walling, Lt. James Wall) and Middletown’s Overseer of the Highways, Joseph Dorsett. Other Loyalist parties were concurrently taking captives, but no Loyalist irregular led as many raids or took as many prisoners as Tye. Tacit British Approval of Manstealing No surviving British document authorized manstealing. The British relationship with the Associated Loyalists (who conducted manstealing raids) was strained. The British relationship with Colonel Tye and his Black Brigade is undocumented and was likely never formalized. However, British officers saw the Loyalist raiding parties at Sandy Hook, and saw raiders selling their plunder in New York. British officers read the newspapers that reported the manstealing raids. There is no reason to believe the British restrained manstealing; they likely tacitly endorsed it. Indeed, there is scattered evidence that the British countenanced manstealing. A September 10, 1781, order from the British Commander in Chief, Henry Clinton, to Lt. Thomas Okerson of the New Jersey Volunteers (formerly of Tinton Falls) appears to authorize the kidnapping of a Continental leader: You are to proceed to Pennsylvania with the men under your Command and there carry into execution the plan proposed, after which you will return to this place by the most convenient route. Should there be a necessity for you to detail your men, you will give them direction [illegible words] you shall think they can stay with them till you return. Clinton also apparently approved of a plan to send James Moody, also a junior officer in the New Jersey Volunteers , into New Jersey to kidnap Governor Livingston. Moody and a few thirty men landed in a disaffected neighborhood near the southern tip of Monmouth County. But Moody’s party was discovered, a few of his men were arrested, and the plot fell apart. While British commanders kept a distance from manstealing and left this dirty work for others, the best evidence suggests that they winked at the practice. Tye was shot in the wrist during his late August raid and died shortly thereafter . Manstealing continued after Tye’s death, but tapered off in quantity. Monmouth County’s militia and state troops became steadier and a number of Loyalist raids—including the so-called Negro Hill Massacre —went badly for the Loyalists later in the war. Yet, even as the number of kidnappings ebbed, the practice stoked resentments in Monmouth County and pushed the county’s Whigs toward vigilante retaliation . Related Historic Site : Prison Ship Martyr Monument Sources : William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1872); Thomas Wainwright to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 11, May 11, 1780; William Livingston to Joseph Reed, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, p 433; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 68, July 12, 1780; New York Royal Gazette excerpted in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 137; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Henry Clinton to Thomas Okerson, University of Michigan, William L. Clements Library, Sir Henry Clinton Papers, Volume 174, item 11; Richard Peters to William Livingston, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, p 327; Information on the captured Monmouth Countians is in Michael Adelberg, Biographical File, unpublished at the Monmouth County Historical Association Library. Previous Next

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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 > Monmouth Militia March to Perth Amboy to Defend Against British Attack by Michael Adelberg Perth Amboy was within easy reach of British warships. Three Monmouth County militia companies helped defend the strategic and vulnerable town in July 1776. - July 1776 - Monmouth County was rife with troubles in July 1776. Foremost among them, the northeast tip of the county—the Sandy Hook peninsula—was a British military base and a beacon for the county’s many Loyalists. They were forming associations throughout the county and challenging the authority of the fledgling New Jersey government. Revolutionary leaders such as John Covenhoven of Freehold, a delegate to the New Jersey Convention and the body’s Vice President, begged for assistance, but little was available. But July 1776 was also a moment of crisis for the Continental Army which was scrambling to form a defensive perimeter on the land that circled the British Army, now landed on Staten Island. Thousands of men from Pennsylvania and New Jersey rushed to northeast New Jersey to form this perimeter, including three volunteer militia companies from Monmouth County—under Captains Joshua Huddy, Barnes Smock, and Reuben Randolph. In July, Joshua Huddy of Colts Neck (in Shrewsbury Township) raised a company of volunteers from a string of neighborhoods between Colts Neck and Upper Freehold. John Parsons of Upper Freehold joined this company and recalled “their company marched to Perth Amboy, the Hessians were at this time on Staten Island and fired upon Perth Amboy... their balls knocked down two of the pillars on the Market House in that place." He served for two months, one at Perth Amboy and one on the Monmouth shore of Raritan Bay. Huddy, a zealous (and sometimes overzealous ) supporter of the Revolution would subsequently raise and lead volunteer companies of State Troops in 1777 and 1782. Barnes Smock, with his kinsmen John Smock and Hendrick Smock, was from one of Middletown’s leading Whig families. He was elected militia Captain in early 1776. Elisha Morris, a member of Smock’s company, recalled: "He first marched to Amboy under Captain Barnes Smock and after remaining there on guard for two weeks, he was marched back to Monmouth County and put on guard on Conkaskunk [on Raritan Bay]." John Howland of the same company recalled similar service: "They marched as far as Perth Amboy, three days, and then returned to Monmouth." Interestingly, Howland did not originally expect to perform this service. He also recalled: “Elisha Gird had volunteered to go to meet the British… He got frightened and gave this deponent eight dollars to take his place, which he did.” Captain Reuben Randolph recruited volunteers from Dover and Stafford townships (present-day Ocean County). He raised 25 men. Recruiting from across the isolated shore villages took time, as did their long march from Toms River. But they reached Perth Amboy in early August and stayed for 35 days. One of Randolph’s men, Zachariah Hankins, recalled this service: He performed his first monthly tour of duty under Captain Reuben Randolph of the township of Stafford… his company composed one half of the Dover militia and one half of the Stafford militia, that they were marched to Amboy and there remained for one month of duty... he was discharged from his monthly tour at Amboy, he went home to the township of Dover. Another one of Randolph’s men, John Chamberlain, corroborated Hankins’ account. He also recalled that his service at Perth Amboy included “making and repairing fortifications at that place.” The short tenure of the Monmouth militia at Perth Amboy was attributable to their temporary service, especially militia that left their homes knowing those same homes were vulnerable to British attack and local Loyalist insurrection. The routing of the Continental Army at the Battle of Long Island in late August also probably weighed on the decision to stay at a place within easy reach of the victorious British. The Monmouth men were back home by the early fall. It would not be long before their local enemies would prove more formidable than the British. Related Historic Site : Proprietary House Sources : National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Parsons of VA, www.fold3.com/image/#25332426 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Elisha Morris of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#25351171 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Howland of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#27247928 ; New Jersey State Archives, Revolutionary War, Book of Indents, Capt Reuben Randolph, p401; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Parsons; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Zachariah Hawkins of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#22623931 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Chamberlain. 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 > Continental Congress Seeks Blankets Via London Trade by Michael Adelberg Richard Peters served on the Board of War of the Continental Congress. He championed an ill-fated, secret plan to buy British blankets for the Army via illegal traders at Manasquan. - January 1780 - While much is written about the Continental Army shivering through a miserable winter at Valley Forge (1778-1779), the winters of 1779-1780 and 1780-1781 at Morristown were colder. Amidst harrowing reports of soldier suffering, the shortage of blankets for the Army tempted the Continental Congress to relieve the shortage with a half-baked scheme. On December 31, 1779, the Continental Congress approved a secret plan developed by its Board of War. The minutes of the Congress did not describe the plan because it could not be entered into the public record, but the minutes do document that this secret plan was approved: [The] plan appears practicable and if carried into execution promises supplies of certain articles immediately wanted for the troops at much less expense, and with greater dispatch than can otherwise be procured. Congress then allocated $500,000 Continental dollars to buy blankets from British-held New York via “London traders ” at Manasquan. Bowman’s Secret Mission is Implemented The Board of War, chaired by Richard Peters of Pennsylvania, wrote George Washington on January 8, 1780, regarding the secret plan. It wrote, "we have employed Maj. [Richard] Howell... to facilitate the measures we have communicated to him. Capt. Nathaniel Bowman of that Regiment may be detached with his entire company of Light Infantry." Bowman was ordered "to proceed with an ammunition wagon to Squan by way of Freehold, where he is to draw two weeks provisions with orders on the Commissary [John Lloyd] there." The Board was clear about the secret nature of the mission: Your Excellency [is] to give these orders to Capt. Bowman alone with direction to keep his route and destination a profound secret & to repair to Squan with all expedition...To ensure their good temper and fidelity, it will be necessary that they be as well equipped as to clothing & supplies as circumstances will admit. The Board also warned Washington "should your Excellency have occasion to detach any other officer into that part of the country, it will be necessary to order him not to interfere with Capt. Bowman's command; tho' we would wish no other officer may, for a time, be sent there." Washington’s aide, Robert Harrison, promptly ordered General William Maxwell, leading the New Jersey Line, to detach Capt. Bowman's company on the secret mission. Bowman was to be provided "an ammunition wagon provided with horses & a driver. There is to be no ammunition in the wagon.” Maxwell was further ordered to make sure Bowman’s company was full: “Whatever men are deficient [in Bowman's company] are to be made up out of the Regiment, and the General desires that those men may be furnished as soon as possible with their clothing in preference to others." Bowman was asked to be ready to march to Freehold in three days. Maxwell was not told of Bowman’s mission. On January 11, Washington wrote directly to Bowman with secret orders: You are to proceed immediately with the men of your company present, and those attached to it by an order yesterday for the purpose of making it complete, to Squan by way of Freehold, taking with you the ammunition wagon for which you obtained an order of General Knox at Freehold; you will draw two weeks provisions for your party, for which purpose you will find an order enclosed for the Commissary of that place... It is the desire of the Board of War that your route and destination be kept a profound secret. No officer may interfere with your command in the course of your march and command. You [will] keep strict discipline and good order. Troubles with Bowman’s Blankets at Manasquan There is no documentation of Bowman’s time at Manasquan until the end of March. On March 30, Abraham Clark, a New Jersey delegate in Congress, wrote to Governor William Livingston. By law, British goods were illegal in New Jersey. Any New Jersey citizen who found British goods in the state could seize them. With the approval of the local magistrate and a verdict from a mini-jury, those goods would be forfeited to the person who seized them. This meant that the blankets at Manasquan were liable to seizure. Clark wrote: There is now stored at Squan a quantity of blankets for the use of the Army… it appears they are of British manufacture and on that account are liable to seizure, it is said that a number of inhabitants, having knowledge of said goods, are determined to avail themselves of the law authorizing seizures in case of their removal. This embarrasses the Board of War. Clark requested that Livingston intervene to allow Bowman to safely bring the blankets out of Manasquan. That same day, Richard Peters wrote Washington that "the great distress of the Army for want of blankets induced the Board to sometime since attempt to import them from New York." He provided an update on Bowman’s mission and made a request: The Board contracted with a Gentleman for 5,000 blankets on terms advantageous to the Public & gave him a permit to go into N. York, where he has been a most unreasonable time. He has at length sent to Squan in N. Jersey upwards of 2,000 blankets and some other goods...a small quantity which has been at rec'd by the Clothier here [Philadelphia]--but the transportation of them through the Jersies and the imprudence of the persons conducting them have created such suspicion and uneasiness among the people as to make the board apprehensive of risking the rest across the Country. Peters asked that Washington give Bowman a pass to carry the blankets across the state. Livingston and Washington exchanged letters about the blankets at Manasquan. Livingston wrote: There is now stored at or near Squan a quantity of blankets designed for use of the Army; these with other articles of clothing are under the direction of the Board of War...How and whence these blankets came to the above place, I am not able to inform your Excellency, but it appears they are of British manufacture and on that account liable to seizure. It is said that a number of inhabitants of New Jersey, having knowledge of the said goods, are determined to avail themselves of the law authorizing seizure. Livingston asked Washington to issue a special pass for the blankets: "Orders to the effect which he [Clark] mentions should doubtless be given without delay, but as this is a matter relating solely to the Army, it seems proper that the passport should come from Your Excellency [Washington]." Washington complied with the requests from Livingston and Peters by sending a pass for Bowman to transport the blankets to the Board of War. He also complained of being pulled into a plot that contradicted New Jersey law: I enclose a permit for the goods in charge of Captain Bowman. This mode of obtaining supplies is certainly justifiable, from the unhappy situation of our affairs and the necessity of having them; but at the same time, for reasons which will steadily occur to the Board, I very much wish the business could have been concluded without any interference on my part. Bowman's pass read: "The goods which Capt. Bowman has in his charge have been procured by the public, and are essential articles of supply for the Army; They are therefore permitted to pass." Livingston promised his support: "I shall cheerfully do everything in my power that may be thought necessary to facilitate the safe transportation of the blankets." It is unclear when Washington’s pass made it to Bowman, but Bowman stayed at Manasquan through April. The delay proved costly. At the end of April, Bowman compiled a troop return: three men deserted on April 18; five more deserted on April 20; five were captured during a Loyalist raid on Manasquan, also on April 20; and four more deserted on the march back to Morristown on April 29. In April alone, Bowman lost seventeen of his 62 men (though two of the deserters eventually returned). It was inevitable that London Traders at Manasquan who regularly conversed with Loyalists at Sandy Hook and New York would inform a Loyalist with military resources. The April 20 raid on Manasquan was reported in the Loyalist New York Gazette . A detachment of New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalist troops) "under the command of Lt. Col. Lawrence [Elisha Lawrence] embarked at Sandy Hook on an expedition against a rebel post at Squan.” The report continued: After being detained for a week at the Light House by contrary winds, Coll. Lawrence landed at midnight and marched immediately for the cantonment of the enemy, which he soon reached, but was mortified in finding the post had been withdrawn to the south. However, the Loyalists did capture a small detachment of Continentals, consisting of a Lieutenant and five men. After this, Lawarence determined that "nothing further to be done, the detachment re-embarked and returned" on April 22. The captured officer was Lt. Benajah Osmun, who had just returned to Manasquan from Philadelphia on April 18 with two privates (he probably had delivered a wagonload of blankets to that city and was returning). After his capture, Osmun was permitted to write Colonel Israel Shreve, his regimental commander. He wrote of the capture of his party while searching local homes (perhaps searching for pilfered blankets): I ordered them [his men] to rest their selves for a little time and then would go search the houses and no doubt should have found them but was disappointed by a party under the command of Col. Lawrence which landed about 1 o'clock and took me and the men, which was brought to New York, and I was sent to Long Island [Brooklyn] on parole where I still remain. Congress’s Board of War had funded Bowman to purchase 5,000 blankets, and, in March, reported that “upwards of 2,000 blankets” were brought from New York to Manasquan. Lt. Osmun apparently brought “a small quantity” of those blankets to Philadelphia, but most of the blankets were likely lost—either to the Loyalist raiders or to local disaffected who pilfered the blankets when Bowman retreated from Manasquan on Lawrence’s landing. After the Collapse Bowman’s Mission In May, an anonymous intelligence report was sent to Congress from Black Point (Rumson). The secret correspondent was probably Major Richard Howell, who had spent five months at Black Point in 1778. He wrote: "I sent you a line the 8th instant from Black Point from which place I intended a secret visit." The writer warned Congress of rumors that "I have been the principal instrument of supplying the Continental Army with blankets and ammunition, but they are false." Even after the failure of Bowman’s mission was known in Congress, discussions continued about acquiring blankets via illegal trade. Indeed, Richard Peters, who had championed the Bowman mission, proposed a similar plan to acquire blankets via West Point, New York. Peters predicted that, this time, there would be "less examination or suspicion, as the transportation [of blankets] is by water, & no risk to be run by the public." General Washington was cool to the idea and there is no evidence that the scheme was implemented. A month later, it was understood that a lot of money was spent on bringing blankets from New York to Manasquan and only a few of the blankets had made it to the Army. On June 7, Congress summoned Bowman to appear before Congress, via a letter to Washington: The Board are desirous of seeing Capt. Bowman of the Jersey Troops on the subject of his command at Squan, during the last winter and spring, & would be much obliged to your Excellency to order him to repair to Philadelphia without delay. Washington complied. He wrote the Board that he was sending Bowman to Philadelphia; he also vouched for Bowman’s good character: "He is said to be a very brave and active officer." On June 14, Congress noted Bowman’s arrival. There is no record of Bowman’s examination before Congress. This is likely because Bowman’s mission was a secret one, albeit a poorly-kept secret, and a decision was made to keep the proceedings out of the public record. The misadventure at Manasquan had one final twist. According to historian John Rees, in December 1780, Major Howell, Bowman’s commanding officer, was arrested for his role in illegally trading for British blankets. “He was forcibly taken from his father's house before a Judge at Burlington.” Howell then “showed his secret orders, which secured his discharge and erasure of the minutes." Rees suggested that Bowman’s mission "seemed fated for failure almost from the outset” because it started too late in the year, was plagued by poor communications, and was dependent on unreliable locals living along the vulnerable Monmouth shore. Rees concluded that, for Congress, "the experience at Squan must have discouraged any further such plans." This may be true, but it certainly did not stop Monmouth Countians from engaging in other convoluted plots to extract valuables from New York. Related Historic Site : Morristown National Historical Park Sources : John Rees, Supply Shortages, Suffering Soldiers and a Secret Mission During the Hard Winter of 1780, Military Collector & Historian, v52, n3, Fall 2000, pp. 100-107; George Washington to Nathaniel Bowman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 63, January 11, 1780; Richard Peters to George Washington in John Rees, Supply Shortages, Suffering Soldiers and a Secret Mission During the Hard Winter of 1780, Military Collector & Historian, v52, n3, Fall 2000, pp. 100-7; Abraham Clark to William Livingston, Paul Smith, et al, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970) vol. 15, p 555; William Livingston to George Washington, John Rees, Supply Shortages, Suffering Soldiers and a Secret Mission During the Hard Winter of 1780, Military Collector & Historian, v52, n3, Fall 2000, p100-7; George Washington to Congress, John U. Rees, The Great Distress of the Army for Want of Blankets, p4-10; William Livingston to George Washington, Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Bowman’s Troops Return in John U. Rees, The Great Distress of the Army for Want of Blankets, p4-10; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Anonymous Report, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 98; Congress to George Washington in John Rees, Supply Shortages, Suffering Soldiers and a Secret Mission During the Hard Winter of 1780, Military Collector & Historian, v52, n3, Fall 2000, p100-7 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 Militia Defeated by New Jersey Volunteers Near Sandy Hook by Michael Adelberg Captain John Dennis’s militia company was stationed in the town of Shrewsbury. The town’s proximity to the British base at Sandy Hook and disaffection of many residents put the militia at risk. - October 1777 - As noted in prior articles, in late September 1777, hundreds of Monmouth County’s most committed patriots mustered under Brigadier General David Forman and left the county to join George Washington’s Army in the defense of the nation’s capital, Philadelphia. Loyalists in the British service, camped on Staten Island and Sandy Hook, had good intelligence into Monmouth County through regular contact with illegal traders and disaffected inside the county. They saw an opportunity to attack while the best defenders were away. New Jersey Volunteers Attack Shrewsbury In early October, while Monmouth County was lacking Forman’s Additional Regiment and its most spirited militia, a company of New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalists) came off Sandy Hook and launched an incursion into Shrewsbury Township. Antiquarian accounts from the 1800s combined oral histories and sources to narrate this attack. According to the plurality of accounts, a company of New Jersey Volunteers under Captain John Taylor came off Sandy Hook to take back the cargo of a beached British vessel. A local militia party under Captain John Dennis was at the village of Shrewsbury, near the beached vessel. The Loyalists turned to attack the militia prior to taking the cargo. After a brief battle, the militia was scattered. The Loyalists captured Dennis and six or nine of his men. A junior officer, John Little, was killed. Dennis was jailed in New York and died three months later. Loyalist newspapers in New York reported on the attack. The New York Gazette offered a brief account that exaggerated the scope of the Loyalist victory: On Thursday last, about 40 men, part of Col. [Elisha] Lawrence's corps, proceeded from the Light House into Shrewsbury; that same night they met with a party of rebel Captain Dennis at Shrewsbury, guarding a schooner lately taken belonging to the Crown. They immediately attacked and took all the Rebels prisoners, and they are now on their passage to this city. The New York Gazette & Weekly Mercury published two similar but not identical accounts of the skirmish. These reports provide additional details on the clash. The reports state that the Loyalists “went in search of some rebel Light Horse that he [Taylor] heard was at Shrewsbury, and soon fell in with a party of militia.” The battle was brief but intense: “a smart firing ensued.” The reports did not mention retaking the cargo of a beached vessel. The reports list the captured militia beyond Captain Dennis; they were: “Lieut. Cook Lester, George Rivets, Abraham Lane, Michael Maps, Cornelius Treat and William Herrell.” One report lists Lieutenant John Little as fatally wounded. That same report notes that John Williamson, in Taylor’s party, was shot in the thigh during the action. Responding to the Attack Dr. Thomas Henderson, a close ally of David Forman who remained in Monmouth County, conveyed news of the attack to Forman, who was leading the Monmouth troops in Pennsylvania. Henderson sent militia Captain Andrew Brown to brief Forman. Brown carried a letter from Henderson: I have the unhappiness to inform you that we have lost a brave man, John Little, who was wounded in a skirmish with the Tories & died soon after. We have also lost Capt. John Dennis & nine of his men were lost by disobeying orders, for particulars, must refer you to the bearer or until I have the pleasure of seeing [you], which I wish speedily to be the case. Henderson also referenced observations made about British ships leaving Sandy Hook. Forman forwarded Henderson's letter to George Washington with a brief note vouching for Henderson’s credibility. Forman called Henderson, "a gentleman that has taken an early & warm attachment to our cause, a man of understanding and good information." On hearing from Brown, at least one Monmouth militia company broke off from Forman and returned to Monmouth County in haste. Tunis Aumack, a member of that company, recalled: He marched part of the way to Germantown in Pennsylvania before the engagement took place, but his company was sent back to drive off the British and Tories who were pillaging along the shore in their absence. Captain John Taylor (not the same man as the John Taylor who led the Middletown Loyalist Insurrection) was a tavern keeper at Colts Neck before the war. He was among the first wave of Monmouth Loyalists who joined the British in July 1776. He served in the New Jersey Volunteers throughout the war and was among the New Jersey Loyalists selected to join the British Army during the Carolina campaign. He was captured at the Battle of King’s Mountain in October 1781. John Dennis was replaced as militia captain by his brother, Benjamin Dennis. Despite the danger, the company continued to station itself in Shrewsbury village. Benjamin Dennis was killed by Pine Robbers in 1779. A third family member, Samuel Dennis, replaced him. In December 1778, Colonel Daniel Hendrickson, commanding the Shrewsbury militia, gave $30 to Rebecca Dennis, wife of Captain John Dennis, to help support the family. The author’s prior research demonstrates that roughly half of the militia officers from Shrewsbury and Middletown, the township’s closest to Sandy Hook, were victimized during the war. Overall, leaders were twice as likely to suffer during the war as the general population. Related Historic Site : The Allen House Sources : Mary Hyde, Jersey at Germantown, New York Times, May 3, 1896, p1-2; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p204; David C. Munn, "Revolutionary War Casualties," Genealogical Magazine of New Jersey, vol 55 (1980) p 144; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, pp. 473-4; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Tunis Aumock; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Thomas Henderson to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, October 5 and 9, 1777; Michael Adelberg, “An Evenly Balanced County: The Scope and Severity of Civil Warfare in Revolutionary Monmouth County New Jersey,” Journal of Military History , January 2009, vol. 73, n. 1, pp. 9-48; Daniel Hendrickson, Certificate, Monmouth County Historical Association, Haskell Collection, box 1, folder 10. Previous Next

The Elizabeth Van Cleaf Institute A Workshop for Social Studies Educators Grades 6-12 The museum professionals at the Monmouth County Historical Association (MCHA) of Freehold, New Jersey have teamed up with local education professionals through the Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission (MOESC) and Monmouth University to teach history through the sharing of specialized skills. From Artifacts to AI: Teaching History in the Age of ChatGPT Thursday, October 16, 2025 from 9 am - 3 pm Monmouth University Rebecca Stafford Student Center Second Floor, Anacon A Parking in Lot 14 (see map below) *Please bring fully charged laptop* Breakfast and lunch served During this free professional development institute, grades 6-12 educators will learn to curate primary sources & design lessons that develop critical thinking with the appropriate use of AI technology. Discover the benefits, pitfalls, and teachable moments in using AI to supplement your classroom! Presentations led by AI Experts, Master Educators, Archeologists, and Historians 6 CEUs earned through Monmouth University Registration for this year is full! Meet The Team Dr. Wendy Morales Assistant Superintendent, Monmouth Ocean Educational Services Commission Wendy Morales has been an educator for twenty-five years, beginning her career as a 6th grade teacher in the Newark Public School District. She earned a BA from George Washington University, her MA from American Public University, and an Ed.D. from Monmouth University. She currently serves as assistant superintendent of Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission. Dr. Morales earned the Teacher of the Year award in her second year of teaching. After a rewarding five years in Newark, Dr. Morales accepted the role of middle school social studies teacher for the Middletown Township Public Schools where she was fortunate enough to serve as a fellow in the American Institute for History Education’s Teaching American History (TAH) Program. In 2014, she earned Teacher of the Year for the second time. As an early adopter of educational technology, Dr. Morales was accepted into the Google Certified Innovator Program and became a Google Certified Trainer soon after. She has worked in districts all over the country on increasing meaningful technology and personalized learning in the classroom. In 2015, Dr. Morales was accepted into the year-long Fulbright Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, an initiative of the U.S. Department of State. Through this program, she developed a passion for global citizenship education and was fortunate enough to work with a partner teacher in the Republic of Georgia. In 2016, Dr. Morales was selected as a TED-Ed Innovative Educator and was named State of New Jersey Exemplary Secondary Educator (2017). Soon after, she was appointed Director of Social Studies and Technology K-12 in the Middletown Township Public Schools. In this role, she supervised over 100 teachers and specialists, co-developed dozens of curricula, and spearheaded important initiatives such as Future Ready Schools New Jersey and the district’s equity and inclusion initiative. Dr. Morales also serves as an adjunct professor in the School of Education at Monmouth University. She regularly presents at regional and national conferences and has had several academic articles published. Dr. Jason Fitzgerald Assistant Professor, Curriculum and Instruction, Monmouth University A scholar of civic thinking, Dr. Fitzgerald brings his years of social studies teaching experience to explorations of youth civic engagement. Widely published, he collaborates with schools in New York and New Jersey, training teachers to facilitate action civics and inquiry-based social studies practices in their classrooms. Drawing on his experiences as a middle school social studies teacher in the diverse communities of Montgomery County, Maryland, Dr. Fitzgerald’s research explores the ways in which social studies is taught to marginalized populations. His civics-specific research interests have led him to the psychological studies of civic planning as an ill-structured problem category. With this work, he has helped to develop action civics curriculum for Generation Citizen, a national non-profit educational organization, and for young African Leaders as part of President Obama’s Mandela Washington Fellows program, part of the Young African Leaders Initiative; he has been Co-PI on over $500,000 of grant money from the United States Department of State, managed by IREX. Dr. Fitzgerald has used his research on historical and civic ways of thinking used when planning civic action to inform teacher professional development for teachers in local and national contexts. In his local and national professional development work, he compared these heuristics to the popular models of action civics and public policy analysis in order to provide teachers with nuanced ways of teaching civic practice to youth. He has also used this research to undergird civic leadership instruction for over 100 young African leaders, as part of the federal Mandela Washington Fellows program. This not only supported those leaders’ civic development, but some participants took the civic heuristic model home and used it to structure their own non-governmental organization work. Additionally, Dr. Fitzgerald’s work with pre-service social studies teachers has enabled research-practice partnerships that serve to support civics instruction in middle and high school settings. He brought together undergraduate and high school students to collaborate on civic projects, incorporating this research into his social studies methods classes. This integration enabled students to establish their commitment to the NCSS C3 framework in their professional portfolios and in their teaching. Additionally, Dr. Fitzgerald helped synthesize civics education research to inform Ford Foundation funding directions. He has served on the Board of Directors for Generation Citizen and on the board of the New York State Council for the Social Studies. Dr. Rich Veit Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs, Monmouth University Richard F. Veit, Ph.D., currently serves as provost and senior vice president for Academic Affairs for Monmouth University, and is a professor of Anthropology in the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences. An experienced academic leader, he also previously served as interim and associate dean of the Wayne D. McMurray School of Humanities and Social Sciences. Veit received his B.A., summa cum laude, from Drew University in 1990, his M.A. in historical archaeology from the College of William and Mary in 1991 and his Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 1997. In 2007, he was the recipient of Monmouth University’s Distinguished Teacher Award and in 2012 he received Monmouth University’s Donald Warnecke Award for outstanding university service. In 2019, he received Monmouth’s Eugene Simko Faculty Leadership Award. In addition to his administrative duties, he teaches courses on archaeology and New Jersey history. He is the author of eight scholarly books, two of which, “Digging New Jersey’s Past,” and “New Jersey: A History of the Garden State” (with Maxine Lurie), are listed on the New Jersey State library’s 101 Great New Jersey books list. A volume he co-authored with Maxine Lurie, “Envisioning New Jersey,” received an Award of Merit from American Association for State and Local History. Veit serves on the New Jersey Historical Commission and on the boards of the Council for Northeast Historical Archaeology, Crossroads of the American Revolution, Preservation New Jersey and the Archaeological Society of New Jersey. He is the President of the Society for Historical Archaeology. His work research has been featured on NPR, in Archaeology Magazine and at TEDx Navesink in 2014. Dr. Derek Tranchina Director of Special Projects, Monmouth Ocean Educational Services Commission Dr. Derek Tranchina has been an educator and administrator for more than 16 years. He currently serves as the Director of Special Projects for the Monmouth-Ocean Educational Services Commission, primarily overseeing New Jersey Virtual School, a GED program at Monmouth County Jail, and a Professional Development series for educators. As a consultant, speaker, and writer, Derek strives to inspire and empower educators through passion and innovative leadership in areas such as navigating Artificial Intelligence, Educational Technology, school and classroom culture, and more. Joe Zemla Senior Curator, Monmouth County Historical Association Joe Zemla is currently the senior curator at the Monmouth County Historical Association (MCHA), which operates a museum, archives, and research library in Freehold, in addition to five historic house museums throughout the county. Along with MCHA Director of Collections Bernadette Rogoff, Joe researched and installed the permanent exhibition Beneath the Floorboards: Whispers of the Enslaved at Marlpit Hall, two-time winner of the New Jersey Historical Commission’s annual Giles R. Wright Award. The exhibition presents a reinterpretation of the c. 1756 Marlpit Hall farmhouse in Middletown from the perspective of the enslaved men, women, and children who once resided there, while exploring the often-overlooked topic of slavery in New Jersey. Joe currently serves as a Board member for the New Jersey Association of Museums (NJAM), and as a New Jersey representative for the Northeast Slavery Records Database, hosted by John Jay College. Joe holds a Bachelor’s degree in American Studies from Rutgers University, and a Master’s in Museum Studies from the Harvard Extension School. Dana Howell Archivist & Director of Education Monmouth County Historical Association Dana Howell is an archivist and the Director of Education at the Monmouth County Historical Association. She holds a BA from Rutgers University in Psychology and History and an MA in American History from Gettysburg College. She served as the MCHA Research Archivist for several years, during which time her focus was also education-driven. She created the Digital Diversity Oral History Project with her colleague, Joe Zemla, to proactively document the history of our underrepresented communities, and began the Remembering Covid-19 project, one of the earliest pandemic documentation projects launched in the country. MCHA's new digital education companion to the award-winning exhibit Beneath the Floorboards: Whispers of the Enslaved at Marlpit Hall makes the fascinating exhibit content accessible for students, and she is currently working on a curriculum-based high school resource to spotlight the rich and amazing history of Monmouth County, bringing the best of the MCHA archives to students across the state. Elizabeth Van Cleaf was born into slavery at Marlpit Hall in 1806. The teaching institute honors her memory.

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 > Thomas Seabrook and Other Whigs Move Inland for Safety by Michael Adelberg Thomas Seabrook was a militia officer who moved inland after Loyalists bayoneted his son. Over the course of war, at least twenty Monmouth County families moved inland for safety. - June 1777 - Thomas Seabrook and his family lived comfortably on the Raritan Bayshore before the war. In April 1776, Seabrook was commissioned a major in the new Monmouth County militia. Weeks later, he became a major in the regiment of Flying Camp raised by Nathaniel Heard and David Forman. He served for five months, enduring a string of defeats and privations with the Continental Army. In spring 1777, Seabrook was commissioned as the new Lt. Colonel of the 1st Regiment of Monmouth Militia following the disastrous Battle of the Navesink . In April, his adult son, Stephen Seabrook, confronted the disaffected squire Edward Taylor over assisting Loyalist raiding parties led by his son, George Taylor. The Seabrook family was now known to the Loyalist refugees that began raiding the Monmouth shore in spring 1777. On June 16, a raiding party led by George Taylor entered the Seabrook house, probably looking to take Thomas Seabrook. Thomas was not home, but Stephen was. He hid in a ceiling loft. A Loyalist raider noticed a sag in the ceiling and thrust his bayonet upward, stabbing Stephen. The Seabrook family lost £31 in taken items. After the incident, the Seabrooks left the family home and moved to a rented house in present-day Manalapan. A year later, the Seabrooks suffered again when the rented house sustained heavy damage during the Battle of Monmouth. Other Monmouth Whigs Move Inland The Seabrooks were among the first Whig (pro-Revolution) families to move inland after suffering at the hands of Loyalists, but they certainly were not the last. Table 4 documents 21 families that moved inland for safety—and it is safe to assume that this table is not a complete accounting of all the Whigs who re-located inland. The table omits families with incomplete evidence. For example, a farm near Freehold was rented to a man named Carr. The farm was damaged during the Battle of Monmouth (June 1778). Based on tax records, all Monmouth County families named Carr lived in the shore townships of Shrewsbury, Dover and Stafford. But because the identity of the Carr family living near Freehold is unknown, they are not included in the record compilation above. There are additional families that moved inland but are not well documented. Even with this limitation, the records above shows that families moved inland from all three Atlantic shore townships (Shrewsbury, Dover, and Stafford) and the Raritan Bayshore township of Middletown. Half of these families relocated near the county seat of Freehold, a safe place because it was fifteen miles inland and the county militia muster site. Other families went even further inland to Upper Freehold, Cranbury (in Middlesex), and even out of state. Families that owned boats moved to Woodbridge and Middletown Point, but both of those villages were only somewhat safer than their homes—both villages suffered Loyalist raids during the war. Families moved inland every year of the war in which there were Loyalist raids, but 1777 was the year in which the most families moved. Six of the twenty (30 percent) families that moved inland were the families of militia officers—while leaders represented less than 20 percent of the general population. The author’s prior research documents that leaders suffered twice as often during the war as non-leaders because they were targeted by Loyalists. A number of veterans (or their widows) recalled moving inland in their postwar veteran pension applications. A few examples follow. Mary Wall, the wife of Lieutenant James Wall of Middletown, recalled: Her husband was regularly obnoxious against the [Loyalist] refugees and always slept with his arms at his side; his house was frequently searched and one time he very narrowly escaped by availing himself to the darkness of night when the enemy came to the door. The family moved to Spotswood for safety, but Mary Wall noted that Spotswood was also unsafe: At that time he lived in Spotswood when his house was again plundered of everything valuable and portable and he then lost the sword which had been surrendered to him by the British officer at the Battle of Monmouth. Matthias Handlin of Long Branch turned sixteen, joined the militia, and participated in a battle against an African American Loyalist raiding party. After that, his father decided his son needed to move inland: At Long Branch, there were a great many Tories and said Handlin believed himself to be in great danger from them, owing to the active part he had been taking against them... His father, about this time, persuaded said Matthias Handlin to go to Allentown at which place he had a sister living. That, being obedient to his father's request, did so proceed to Allentown. William Aumack joined the militia upon turning 16 in 1778. "He lived almost on the shore of New York Bay, within about one hundred yards of it... and for his own safety he was forced to seek the ranks of a soldier... When called into service, he removed from said Township, it being on the shore, with his father, into the township of Freehold for two years." Job Throckmorton's pension application was submitted by his widow, Mary Throckmorton. She described the family’s move inland in 1780. That year, the family moved “into the interior of the county at a place called Englishtown, upwards of twenty miles distant, and the reason for his doing so was that himself and his family would not be murdered by the enemy." Not included in the table are the nineteen women from Tinton Falls who are listed in a 1780 militia return of Captain James Green. These women likely had been burned out of their homes during a particularly punishing Loyalist raid and now were under the care of the Colts Neck militia captain. These women and their families moved inland for safety and poor relief. They are not included in the table because their time inland was likely short term. The movement of Whigs to inland locations was noticed by Loyalists in New York. The Loyalist New York Gazette reported in October 1779 that “the well-affected inhabitants” to the Revolution in Monmouth County were “removed to the back part of the county.” The report further stated that: The more moderate and sober Whigs have lately remonstrated against this practice and procured their return, declaring that they looked upon the Tories as their protectors, and unless the Loyalists were recalled would, themselves, follow them into retirement. In September 1782, David Forman wrote George Washington about a rumored promise from the British Commander in Chief, Guy Carleton, that "he will prevent small parties coming within the American lines… for plundering and man stealing .” Forman asked for information about this rumored British directive on behalf of “a respectable body of Whigs who have been compelled to leave their homes on the shore on acct of their affection to the American cause and are exceedingly distressed." Forman, living near Freehold, was obviously in contact with the shore-residents who had moved to the Freehold-area. These Whig refugees were likely hoping for news that would allow them to go home; their grievance may have contributed with the radicalization of Forman and other political leaders around Freehold—this radicalization was evident in the election-coercion and vigilantism embraced by Forman a clique of Freehold leaders. Related Historic Site : Seabrook-Wilson House (Spy House) Sources : John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v4, p247-8; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, 4 vols, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1970, v4, p236; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, David Cooper of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#12873752 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Peter Crawford of PA, www.fold3.com/image/#15198310 ; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Burrowes Norris; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, James Wall of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#20365758; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Aumock; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Matthias Handlin of Ohio, www.fold3.com/image/#23563620www.fold3.com/image/#23563620 ; Thoms Brown’s pension application in John C. Dann, The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980) pp 141-3; National Archives, revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Derrick Sutphin; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p 508; National Archives, Veterans Pensions, Isaac Covenhoven of New York; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Job Clayton; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Clark of PA, www.fold3.com/image/#12752854 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Zachariah Hawkins of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#22623931 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Job Throckmorton; “An Evenly Balanced County: The Scope and Severity of Civil Warfare in Revolutionary Monmouth County New Jersey,” Journal of Military History , 2009; Militia Return, June 1780, Captain James Green, Stryker-Rodda, Harriet, “Militia Women of 1780, Monmouth County, New Jersey,” N.S.D.A.R. Magazine, vol. 113, n. 4, April 1979, pp. 308-12; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, October 1779, reel 2906; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, General Correspondence, September 21, 1782; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File , at the Monmouth County Historical Association. Previous Next

World War I The Great War Up until 1939, World War I was referred to as the World War or the Great War. It was like nothing the world had ever seen. While estimates vary, approximately 20 million died and 21 million were wounded; half of these casualties were civilians. In addition to bullets and bombs, famine and disease in war-torn areas took many of these lives. While the war was fought abroad, Americans at home were lucky to be shielded from the violence and horrors of war, but experienced changes as well. Our men went overseas and many lost their lives, creating hardship and heartbreak. Women entered the factories to stand in and contribute what they could to the war effort. German Americans became suspected sympathizers and targets, and all things German were denounced... Documents These documents give an interesting glimpse into the world of the Great War. Learn about a private spy organization 250,000 strong, the horrors of mustard gas, and the 1918 Spanish Flu. Artifacts Very often men would bring home their war paraphernalia to keep as remembrances. Sometimes they collected these items as a hobby. The MCHA houses many interesting WWI artifacts. World War II Fighting on Two Fronts Our men once again went off to fight, this time in both the European and Pacific theaters. Thousands of Monmouth men enlisted; 356 did not return home. All Gave Some... Some Gave All Freehold High School 1941-1945 These young men walked the halls of Freeh old High School as students, and gave their lives in service to their country. MCHA encourages students to create their own Honor Roll projects for the WWII KIA who once attended their schools. MC Military Meet the brave Monmouth County men and women who served their country during WWII. If there is someone with an inspiring story you would like to see featured here, please let us know and we would be honored to included them. Home Front The war was fought at home as well. Rationing, Victory Gardens, women working outside the home, donations, and buying war bonds were some of ways civilians contributed to the war effort. Analyze these primary sources to get a sense of what certain aspects of the war were like. Rationing Rationing was an integral part of the war effort. Food, energy, tires, automobiles, gas and even shoes were rationed. Thinking twice about using hot water was part of everyday life during WWII. Save Waste Fats for Explosives Enlist in a Proud Profession! Raised Em' Myself A Careless Word...Another Cross Doing All You Can, Brother? Is Your Trip Necessary? You Can Lick Runaway Prices He's SURE to Get V-Mail Parody - Last Will of Adolf Hitler American Heroes of WWII booklet War Album of Victory Battles Propaganda The strategy of war has always included a psychological component. War posters and other forms of propaganda express the messages the Office of War Information wished the public to receive. Artifacts These WWII artifacts were donated to MCHA by Monmouth county residents. They offer a snapshot of types of things that our residents were familiar with during this time. Know These Planes Civil Defense Preparedness Card Air Raid Protection Regulations To All Volunteers of the Aircraft Warning Service Air Raid Suggestions to All Members of Middletown Township Civilian Defense The U.S. Citizens Defense Corp was made up of all kinds of responsible community members, from housewives to businessmen to the elderly. There was a job for everyone to help keep the homeland safe. BACK