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

COVENHOVEN HOUSE 150 W Main St., Freehold - Interactive Experience - Take the full audio tour, or focus on your areas of interest! Explore our digital gallery for more insight into the world of the Covenhovens. Please be respectful of the historic structure and refrain from touching the building. Enjoy your visit! FULL TOUR Station One The Property & Family Station Two Architectural Details Station Three Lives of the Enslaved Station Four General Clinton's Arrival Digital Gallery Explore Our Collections Continue your tour with nearby historic sites Monmouth Battlefield State Park The park preserves a splendid rural 18th-century landscape of hilly farmland and hedgerows that encompasses miles of hiking and horseback riding trails, picnic areas, a restored Revolutionary War farmhouse and a visitors center. Old Tennent Presbyterian Church The Covenhovens were parishioners of this very church, still standing today. Travel there to follow in their footsteps! The church has a fascinating history not only in Old Freehold (now Manalapan) but has historic ties to Scotland as well. Further Reading Adelberg, Michael (2010). The American Revolution in Monmouth County: Theater of Spoil and Destruction. Charleston, SC: The History Press. Lender, M. E., & Stone, G. W. (2017). Fatal Sunday: George Washington, the Monmouth Campaign, and the Politics of Battle . Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press. Hodges, G. R. (1997). Slavery and Freedom in the Rural North: African Americans in Monmouth County, New Jersey, 1665-1865. Madison, WI: Madison House. Symmes, Frank (1897). History of the Old Tennent Church . Tennent, NJ: J.S. Yard. Transcript If you have enjoyed this experience, please consider supporting us using the Donate button above!

Welcome | Volunteer Shifts | Museum Docent Training | Allen House Training | Covenhoven Training Holmes Hendrickson Training | Marlpit Hall Training | Taylor - Butler Training | Program Training Allen House Training Materials Opening / Closing Tour Emergency Quick Info History

Our Historic Houses Check Homepage for Current Hours CoHo Audio Tour About the House: Welcome to Covenhoven House! This historic 1752 Freehold home was acquired by the Monmouth County Historical Association in 1966 and restored between 1968 and 1970. It is furnished to reflect a 1790 inventory from William Covenhoven’s estate, and includes many furnishings that a successful Monmouth County farm family might have had at that time. Interestingly, the back of the house now faces the street because when the house was erected the road was located several hundred feet from the opposite side of the structure. In the early 19th century, the road to Mount Holly was straightened, later becoming West Main Street (Route 537). Covenhoven House, 1752 150 West Main Street Freehold, NJ 07728 William and Elizabeth Covenhoven built their imposing new residence in an unusual combination of the latest English Georgian features and good Dutch traditions, fitting given that they were a fifth generation family from the Netherlands who settled originally in the New Amsterdam area. In June of 1778, the Covenhoven House had an unexpected, and important, visitor. On the way to New York City from Philadelphia, British General Henry Clinton occupied what must have been the finest house in Freehold for thirty-six hours leading up the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778). Mrs. Covenhoven took precautions to save some of her household goods. But General Clinton and his officers did much damage to the contents of the house, forcing the elderly Elizabeth to sleep in her milk room. After the war, the Covenhovens filed a claim for their losses with the State of New Jersey. Visitors to the house should ask their docent more about this story! Exterior Audio tour AllenHouse Marlpit Hall, c. 1762 137 Kings Highway Middletown, NJ 07748 Exhibit Open Fri-Sun from 1-4 Beneath the Floorboards: Whispers of the Enslaved at Marlpit Hall is a reinterpretation of this 18th century farmhouse to include the stories of seven of the enslaved who once resided there. Discover the stories of Tom, Elizabeth, Clarisse, York, William, Hannah, and Ephraim. About the House: While four of the five historical houses owned by Monmouth County Historical Association have ties to Patriots of the American Revolution, this house represents the residence of a Loyalist family. Both the structure and the site are rich in historical significance. The property was laid out as lot number 36 in the original 1667 survey of Middletown village. Early owner James Grover Jr. erected a structure in 1686, though records regarding this original structure's fate are lost. The current structure was built around 1762 based on wood analysis, including a center hallway. Edward Taylor took possession of Marlpit Hall in 1771. It remained in the hands of his descendants until 1930. The Georgian-style house, reflecting the lifestyle and taste of its occupants. During a Kings Highway realignment project in 1919, Marlpit Hall was moved back roughly thirty feet due to the energetic efforts to preserve it by Miss Mary Holmes Taylor. But gradually the house fell into decay. In 1935, Marlpit Hall was purchased by Mrs. J. Amory Haskell, a pre-eminent collector of early American decorative arts who lived in Middletown. Mrs. Haskell had the house restored, and in 1936 presented it fully furnished to Monmouth County Historical Association, of which she was a principal patron. It became the first historic house museum in Monmouth County to open to the public. Marlpit Hall is a key property in the Middletown Village Historic District, which is listed on the New Jersey State and National Register of Historic Places. The house is also listed on the New Jersey Women’s Heritage Trail. The Taylor family later built the Taylor-Butler House next door in 1853. MCHA owns and operates both properties as a single campus. Exterior Audio Tours *Spanish language tour available! Allen House, c. 1710 Historic Four Corners 400 Sycamore Avenue Shrewsbury, NJ 07702 About the Allen House: This landmark structure sits at the northwest corner of the Historic Four Corners in Shrewsbury, sharing the intersection with Christ Church (1769), the Presbyterian Church (1821), Shrewsbury Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) Meetinghouse (1816) and the Shrewsbury Historical Museum. MCHA has chosen to furnish the building as a tavern to reflect its 18th century reputation as the Blue Ball Tavern when it served as the very popular and “most noted tavern in Shrewsbury.” It also acted as the one of the community’s vital social institutions, serving at times as a court room where legal decisions were handed down by a visiting judge, town hall, post office, dance hall and gathering place. The property where the house stands was first purchased around 1680 by a Quaker named Judah Allen. In 1754, Josiah Halstead bought the property and turned the existing dwelling on the site into the Blue Ball Tavern which operated for almost sixty years at that busy intersection. Over the years, several major improvements were made to the structure, including construction of an attached kitchen with a large brick fireplace, and conversion to the present gambrel roof so that the attic space could be turned into more usable rooms. The first floor provided a tap room where patrons could enjoy a drink, discuss local politics and engage in a card game by the fireplace. The second floor contained a large meeting room, and a smaller chamber that might have accommodated overnight patrons. The rich history of the Allen House includes, among other events, a Revolutionary War massacre (1779) and a visit from President and Mrs. Woodrow Wilson (1916), who stopped in for goods during a period when the property acted as a local store. Allen House is currently under renovation. Visitors are welcome to tour the exterior! Exterior Audio Tour Taylor-Butler House, c. 1853 127 Kings Highway Middletown, NJ 07748 About the House: While four of the five historical houses owned by Monmouth County Historical Association have ties to the Revolutionary War, this house represents the Civil War era. Joseph Dorset Taylor and Mary Holmes Taylor, first cousins and proud descendants of the Taylors of Middletown, decided to move back to Middletown and build an imposing new house on an inherited family farm (one including Marlpit Hall). The outcome was a restrained Italianate residence, named “Orchard Home” but now called the Taylor-Butler House, built in 1853. It reflected the success that Joseph Taylor had achieved as a merchant in the China Trade. They furnished their new home with items from China mixed with Taylor family heirlooms. The house, with its broad stair hall, spacious rooms, high ceilings, and exceptional architectural detailing, was an elegant testimony to the family’s traditions and to mid-19th century taste. At the time of its construction, the Taylor-Butler House was considered the grandest house in Middletown, a distinction it richly deserved. After the death of the last Mary Holmes Taylor in 1930, Orchard Home stood vacant for ten years. The Kramer family purchased the home in 1941 and installed modern plumbing, electricity, and a hot water heating system but otherwise left the structure’s architectural character largely alone. In 1954, George and Alice Butler – noted for their community involvement and hospitality – took possession of this gracious home. The Monmouth County Historical Association acquired this historic site and five acres in 1999 from the estate of George Butler. Today, the house serves as a gallery space to showcase MCHA’s extensive art collection, with a special nod to artists from the immediate area. In addition, the Taylor-Butler House is available to rent for weddings, gatherings, parties, and other special events. Together, the two Taylor houses – Taylor-Butler and Marlpit Hall – offer a unique historical and cultural resource to benefit the Middletown community and Monmouth County at large. Holmes-Hendrickson House Property of the Monmouth County Park System Interior furnished and interpreted by the Monmouth County Historical Association 62 Longstreet Rd. Holmdel, NJ 07733 About Holmes-Hendrickson House: This uniquely well-preserved structure with wide flaring eaves is set in the Pleasant Valley section of Holmdel, NJ, abutting Holmdel Park & Historic Longstreet Farm. Built in 1754, it is a combination of Georgian and Dutch vernacular architecture that borrowed elements from both Dutch and English cultures. William Holmes, the youngest son of Jonathan Holmes and Teuntje Hendrickson, purchased the land from his parents in 1752. His first cousin Garret Hendrickson then bought the property in 1756 with all of its improvements. Hendrickson operated a successful mixed-use farm where he grew crops, raised livestock including sheep for wool, and planted flax to produce linen. Originally, the house stood just over a mile from its current location. In 1929, Bell Telephone Laboratories acquired the farm to establish a communications test site. Afterward, the house, never equipped with plumbing, electricity, or central heating, was used occasionally for storage. In 1959, Bell Labs began planning for the construction of a large new office building designed by legendary architect Eero Saarinen, now an important landmark in its own right. MCHA acquired the house and moved it to a small lot donated for the purpose. Visitors should ask their house docent for more details on the move itself! After several years of restoration, the Holmes-Hendrickson House was opened to the public in 1965. Today, the house stands in the same orientation to the sun as in its original location. Should Garret Hendrickson, who died in 1801, visit his home again, he would surely recognize it immediately. Main Museum, 1931 70 Court St. Freehold, NJ 07728 About the Structure:

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 > Salt Works Begin on the Monmouth Shore by Michael Adelberg Sketch of a saltwork shows pools for trapping salt water and drying it to brine, and a boiling house for steaming water out of brine. Saltworks needed continual re-supplies of food and wood. - May 1776 - Salt was far more than a seasoning in 18th-century America. Foods, particularly meats, were salted and dried in order to preserve them. A winter-store of food was essential to surviving the long winter and large quantities of salt were essential to creating a winter-store. Soldiers, unable to produce their own food, were particularly dependent upon salt-dried food. Prior to the American Revolution, Americans imported nearly all of their salt from England. In early 1776, a British naval blockade choked off imported salt and Americans experienced a severe salt shortage. For example, in Philadelphia, the price of salt jumped from £2 to £7 a bushel as the boycott of British goods became complete. The Reverend Muhlenberg noted "the people push and jostle each other whenever there is a small quantity of salt to be found." In 1776, American leaders started actively promoting domestic salt making. The Continental Congress passed a resolve encouraging American salt production and one of its delegates authored a booklet on salt-making. Shallow bays, from which salt water could be trapped in drying pans at high tide, were ideal for salt-making. The Monmouth shore was dotted with such bays. On May 28, the New Jersey Provincial Congress passed an act to encourage salt production, putting "a bounty of 1/3 a dollar per bushel upon all such salt... manufactured within one year of the date hereof.” It also granted militia-service exemptions to salt work owners with "500 gallons of boiling vessels" or more. But it was neighboring Pennsylvania that was first to establish a large salt making project on the Jersey shore. Establishing the Pennsylvania Salt Works On May 31, the Pennsylvania Convention (its new legislature), considered a proposal from an entrepreneur, Thomas Savadge, to establish a large salt works on the Jersey shore. On June 12, the committee charged with considering the proposal reported favorably: The Committee appointed to take into consideration the proposals of Thomas Savadge regarding the making of salt, &c., reported that they had examined the plan of said Thomas Savadge for making annual on the sea-coast about sixty thousand bushels, and are of the opinion that the said works may be completed in a short time, at an expense to exceeding two thousand five hundred pounds. The committee recommended that the project go forward but noted that private investment would be needed to supplement any public investment. On July 19, the Pennsylvania Council of Safety provided Savadge with a L400 advance to begin work. Interestingly, Savadge was already in New Jersey, and he had already spent more than his advance on the purchase of land near Toms River. Historian Harry Weiss wrote that the Pennsylvania Salt Works were "located at Coates Point on the north bank of the Toms River about one-half mile from its junction with Barnegat Bay, and six hundred yards inland." Savadge proceeded to purchase the materials necessary to build a large salt works. He hired laborers and purchased supplies on credit with little regard for his limited funding. In October, he optimistically reported on his progress: “I have nearly completed a boiling house… two drying houses, [and] a mill for the pump." But he also reported a litany of problems that included a lack of funds, laborers leaving every second month for militia service, and the non-delivery of purchased boiling pans. Savadge also noted that the salt works were vulnerable to British attack. The Pennsylvania Council of Safety resolved to advance Savadge more funds and protect the salt works: That an officer and twenty-five men be sent to the Salt Works at Toms River as a guard, and twenty-five spare muskets and two howitzers, and sufficient amount of ammunition to defend in case of attack. The Council of Safety also wrote the Continental Congress to ask the government of New Jersey to help protect the Pennsylvania Salt Works. Dr. Samuel Bard’s and Other Monmouth County Salt Works By August, New Jersey was actively promoting its own salt works. The New Jersey Assembly rolled out a plan to support a salt works owned by Dr. Samuel Bard of Shrewsbury. Bard would receive a L500 loan "for the term of two years without interest." The legislature further agreed to buy all salt produced at $1 a bushel. And the legislature agreed that "if any of the works shall be destroyed by the enemy" the legislature would reimburse Bard for half of his losses. Finally, it offered ten militia exemptions for Bard’s laborers. The plan was approved on September 11. Later that month, the New Jersey Assembly considered the salt works project of William Parker (also of Shrewsbury) and his partners. They requested a loan from the state “on easy terms.” On October 5, the legislature passed "An Act to Encourage William Parker & Others to Erect Salt Works." Loan terms included a provision that the loan would convert to a grant if the salt works were producing three bushels of salt a day within 90 days, and 50% loan forgiveness if the salt works were destroyed by the enemy. Interestingly, Bard and Parker would flirt with disaffection throughout the war, and one of Parker’s partners, Richard Lippincott, would become one of New Jersey’s most notorious Loyalists. Over the next year, several other saltworks started along the present-day Monmouth and Ocean County shore. According to one study that attempted to locate them all, there were nine salt works in total: 1. the mouth of the Shrewsbury River (The River Works, likely owner Samuel Bard); 2. Shark River (name unknown, likely owner William Parker); 3. Brielle bank of the Manasquan River (Union Salt Works , co-owned by David Forman); 4. Squan Inlet (name and owner unknown); 5. Mosquito Cove, north of Toms River (Randolph's Works owned by James Randolph); 6. Toms River (Pennsylvania Salt Works managed by Thomas Savadge); 7. Forked River (name unknown, owned by Samuel Brown); 8. Waretown (name unknown, owned by Trevor Newland); and 9. Tuckerton (name and owner unknown). There were also ten other salt works south of Monmouth County along the New Jersey shore. The two largest salt works, the Pennsylvania Salt Works and the Union Salt Works, would be marred by scandal and destruction from Loyalist attacks. But a number of the smaller salt works steadily produced small quantities of salt. Related Historic Site : Historic Salt Park (Saltville, VA) Sources : Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 225-6; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Ledger, vol. 1, Jan. 1775-Nov. 1776; Peter Force, American Archives, v6: 856; K. Braddock-Rogers, "Salt Works of New Jersey during the American Revolution," Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 15 (December, 1938), p 586; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 4, p 771; Votes and Proceedings of the House of Representatives of the Colony of Pennsylvania, 1767-1776 (Philadelphia: Henry Miller, 1776) p735, 739; Peter Force, American Archives, v1:1297; Library of Congress, J. Turner Coll., Folder - John Hart; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 2, 1776, p 3.; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 235; Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 5, p 55; Weiss cited in Thomas Foster, The Coastal War in Monmouth County, 1778-1782 (MA Thesis, U. of Pennsylvania, 1961), p13-14; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 419; Peter Force, American Archives, 4th series, vol. 3, pp. 182-183; Journals of the Continental Congress, p925-6 ( www.ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html ); Library of Congress, Journals of the Continental Congress, vol. 6, p 925; C.C. Smith, "Scarcity of Salt During the Revolutionary War", Proceedings of the Mass. Hist. Soc., 1856-7, vol. 15, p224; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 14, #23; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 11, 1776, p 8; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1776) p29-30; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 20, 1776, p 17 and September 27, p 23; The Library Company, Acts of the General Assembly of New Jersey, pp. 6-7, 47; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, November 22, 1776, p 42; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 173, 182-4; J. Reuben Clark, Emergency Legislation Passed Before December 1917 Dealing with the Control and Taking of Private Property for the Public Use and Benefit to which is Added a Reprint of Analagous Legislation Since 1775 (Government Printing Office: Washington, DC, 1918), p501-2; K. Braddock-Rogers, "Salt Works of New Jersey during the American Revolution," Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 15 (December, 1938), p 590. Harold Wilson, The Jersey Shore: A Social and Economic History of the Counties of Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, and Ocean (Lewis, 1953) vol. 1, p 171; K. Braddock-Rogers, "Salt Works of New Jersey during the American Revolution," Journal of Chemical Education, vol. 15 (December, 1938), pp. 586-7, 591; Journals of the Continental Congress, American Memory, Library of Congress, http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/hlawquery.html ; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 232. 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

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 Jersey Legislature Investigates the Retaliators by Michael Adelberg In summer 1780, vigilante “Retaliators” seized furniture from the house of John Hartshorne, a leading Shrewsbury Quaker. The Retaliators victimized many other Quakers over the next two years. - September 1780 - On July 1, 1780, a public meeting was held at the Monmouth County Courthouse to officially establish the Association for Retaliation . 435 men signed the articles that established the group—more signatures than compiled on any other Revolutionary Era Monmouth County document. The Retaliators established a nine-man board of directors chaired by Colonel David Forman—a man who was already known for 1.) being a zealous supporter of the Revolution based on senior-level military commissions and civil offices, and 2.) exceeding the authority of those offices. The Retaliators promised eye-for-an-eye retaliation for every act committed against a member. Largely unable to strike at their real enemies (Loyalist raiders sheltered behind lines), the Retaliators looked at the kin of Loyalists within Monmouth County as befitting targets of retaliation. From the moment of their founding, the clique of Freehold leaders who led the group—including Forman, Nathaniel Scudder, and Thomas Henderson—faced accusations that the group’s extra-legal punishments were illegal. They sought to insulate themselves with a law that would authorize their activity. Monmouth Countians Petition the New Jersey Legislature On September 23, 1780, Scudder and Henderson petitioned the New Jersey Legislature for the opportunity to address the Assembly "on matters of the moment in the County of Monmouth." They were admitted and presented a memorial, "praying that a law may be passed to authorize the well-affected inhabitants to retaliate upon the property of the disaffected of said county; and also a copy of an association lately formed and entered into by a number of inhabitants of said county." The Assembly established a committee to consider their request and investigate the Retaliators. However, just two days later, Joseph Salter, a squire from Dover Township, petitioned the Assembly: Setting forth that Captain Green [James Green], with a number of armed men under his command, had forcibly seized and carried away sundry articles of furniture belonging to the said petitioner and John Hartshorne of the same county, under pretense of retaliation; that he had sought redress through the medium of the law without effect, and praying relief. Joseph Salter had participated in the December 1776 Loyalist insurrections . For this, he was brought before General Israel Putnam who decided not to punish him. Later, Salter was brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety —he took a loyalty oath to the New Jersey government and was released. Salter sold off tracts of land along the shore to start saltworks , and was a creditor to the ill-fated Pennsylvania Salt Works . His son, William Salter, however, was a Loyalist living in New York. John Hartshorne was one of the leading Quakers in Monmouth County; as a pacifist, he played no role in the war. He freed his slaves in 1776 and hosted the French Admiral, Charles Henri D’Estaing, when he came ashore in July 1778. Members of his large family were supporters of the Revolution (Richard Hartshorne was the Monmouth Militia’s Paymaster), but other family members were Loyalists (Lawrence Hartshorne was a merchant in New York) or disaffected (Esek Hartshorne refused loyalty oaths to the New Jersey government). There is no evidence that either Joseph Salter or John Hartshorne had committed any crimes; rather, their “crime” in the eyes of the Retaliators was having Loyalist kin. Salter’s petition demonstrated that the Retaliators were practicing extra-legal property confiscations while concurrently petitioning the legislature for a law that would authorize acts already taken. Committee Report on the Retaliators On September 29, the committee established to study the Retaliators presented a scathing report about the group. The report offered six findings. The first four concerned Monmouth County’s defenses. First, the committee expressed sympathy for the people of Monmouth County: The exposed and dangerous situation on the frontiers of Monmouth County, liable to the continual depredations of the enemy, and the great numbers of well affected inhabitants lately captured by them in that quarter are matters highly worthy of the attention of government. Second, the Committee observed that Monmouth County’s best defense was the county’s own militia supplemented by militia from other counties : A prudent disposition of militia force, together with the occasional aid of militia adjoining the frontiers would, with proper and spirited execution, in a great measure, if not entirely, have afforded protection & security to that part of the country. Third, the Committee singled out the need to prevent militia delinquency to strengthen the county’s defenses (Monmouth County was in the midst of a crackdown on militia delinquency): Delinquency of the officers and classes in some of the counties in procuring and forwarding men for that directed service has greatly contravened the good intentions of the legislature, and burdened the militia in that quarter with an over-proportion of the duty. Fourth, the committee called on Governor William Livingston to call out militia from other counties to assist Monmouth County when necessary. The report’s last two findings focused specifically on the Retaliators. Fifth, the Committee declared that: The Association for Retaliation, referred to in the said memorial, is an illegal and dangerous combination, utterly subversive to the law, highly dangerous to the government, immediately tending to create disunion among the inhabitants, directly leading toward anarchy and confusion, and tending to the dissolution of the constitution and government. And, finally, the committee suggested that: The exertions of the associators regularly to enforce laws in that county, and to defend the frontiers against the predatory incursions of the enemy's parties, would have had a much more evident tendency to have produced security for the said county, and safety to the well-affected inhabitants, than any illegal combination whatever. The report was a stinging rebuke of the vigilante acts of the Retaliators. However, the report never explicitly banned the Retaliators. For this reason, James Mott, a Monmouth County Assemblyman (recently exchanged home from capture and an in-law to Joseph Salter) offered an amendment to the report on October 2. Mott sought to add the following sentence: "that the association referred to in the memorial ought to be discountenanced by the legislature as illegal and contrary to the laws of this state." The Assembly declined to add Mott’s language by an 11-14 vote. Monmouth County’s other two Assemblymen, Hendrick Smock and Thomas Seabrook, voted against the new language. Both men had signed the Articles of Association for Retaliation. Had Smock and Seabrook voted with Mott, the resolution would have passed 13-12. The defeat of Mott’s amendment allowed the Retaliators to maintain that the Assembly had only frowned on their group. Their vigilante acts would grow bolder in 1781. Related Historic Site : Shrewsbury Quaker Meeting House Sources : Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 23 - October 2, 1780, pp. 270-282; The New Jersey Legislature’s rebuke of the Retaliators is in Larry Gerlach, New Jersey in the American Revolution 1763-1783 A Documentary History (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1975) p. 399 note 4; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File, unpublished, Monmouth County Historical Association. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Disaffection of Edward Taylor by Michael Adelberg With the exception of six months of confinement in Princeton, Edward Taylor lived at his home, Marlpit Hall, throughout the Revolution. Taylor was often punished for opposing the Revolution. - April 1777 - In 1774 and 1775, Edward Taylor was a leader in resisting British policies in Monmouth County. He was a committeeman who was so important to the county’s drive to raise food for the suffering people of Boston that when a thank you note came back from Boston it was addressed to him. In early 1776, Taylor concurrently served in the New Jersey Assembly (aligned with the British government) and the Provincial Congress (aligned with the Continental Congress). Taylor was one of several pre-Revolutionary leaders who historian William Benton labeled “Whig-Loyalists” – men who, like the Whigs of England, who believed the British government needed reform, but remained loyal to the British government and crown. Taylor was a key member of committees that took actions against Loyalists . When his neighbors moved toward supporting a New Jersey Constitution separate from British authority, Edward Taylor broke from them. On June 26, the week before the New Provincial Congress voted to adopt a new constitution, Colonel Abraham Ten Eyck was ordered to apprehend Edward Taylor, his brother, John Taylor, and 24 other New Jerseyans of suspect loyalty. Ten Eyck was further ordered to “keep them under strong guard, and bring before this Congress" and further "deliver them to the keeper of the common gaol at Trenton." At this time, Edward’s nephew, William Taylor, was getting signatures for a petition opposing independence, and Edward’s son, George Taylor, was commanding the militia opposite the British base at Sandy Hook. Edward Taylor laid low for the next several months. There is no evidence that he supported the new Revolutionary government, but also no evidence that he participated in the Loyalist insurrections (though he apparently did not sign a British loyalty oath). When George Taylor switched sides and became the Colonel of Monmouth County’s Loyalist militia and started raiding the county, it became impossible for Edward to lay low. In April, 1777, David Forman, the highest-ranking officer in Monmouth County (concurrently a colonel in the Continental Army and a Brigadier General of the New Jersey Militia) took an interest in Edward Taylor. He visited Taylor in early April and offered him a Loyalty oath to the New Jersey government. Forman gave a deposition on April 14 detailing Taylor’s response: Heard said Edward Taylor say that he had, at two different times, taken the oath of allegiance to the King of Great Britain and he still thinks himself bound by them, and absolutely refused to take on the oaths to the State of New Jersey. That same day, Zephaniah Morris gave a deposition against Edward Taylor regarding a £50 debt: Said deponent, being at work at Edward Taylor 's house in the month of December last, he [Morris] pulled out a sum of Continental money (more than sufficient to have paid the debt to sd Edward Taylor) and this deponent asked said Taylor if he would take the money due to him, to which said Taylor replied he would take the money in the month of March. When Morris returned in March to again pay off the debt in Continental money, "said Taylor replied that he would only take money that would pass in [British occupied] New York." The next day, William Bostwick gave a deposition against Taylor. Bostwick heard Taylor complain in the fall of 1776 "that the mortgage is daily increasing on his estate because two persons from morning to night [are employed] to print Continental money, and he should have only a penny to give his sons.” Henry Segollets also gave a deposition with respect to a debt owed to Taylor: On or about the beginning of December last, this deponent did proffer to Edward Taylor for the full sum owed above, executed by the said Henry Segollets Jr., in Continental currency, and that the said Edward Taylor did refuse to take said money, and that this deponent did a few days after, in the presence of two witnesses, again proffer to said Edward Taylor the money due to said Taylor on the aforesaid note, who still refused to take the money due. Taylor was brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety on April 19 and the evidence against him was heard. Two friends posted £300 bonds for his good conduct and he was released; Taylor also posted bonds for the release of others brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety. He was the lone vote against “purging” Loyalists from the Middletown Baptist meeting . All of these actions demonstrate that Edward Taylor was disaffected from the new government, but not necessarily hostile. However, Taylor would edge closer to participating in hostilities. On May 25, Thomas Seabrook, a major in the militia, learned that Edward Taylor was removing the fence rails from part of his land near the shore. Seabrook presumed that this was being done to allow raiding parties led by his son, George Taylor to penetrate Middletown and escape via Taylor’s land. Thomas Seabrook's son, Stephen Seabrook, confronted Edward Taylor. He reported: I went in company with James Kelsey & we came upon the fence Edward Taylor had cut with the axe [still] in his hand. Upon our coming to him, a conversation began, me & sd Taylor, about the fence and land. I told him it was poor business. Taylor acknowledged he had cut 20 or 30 panel & he would be damned to put it up again. George Taylor's Loyalist party attacked Seabrook's home two weeks later hoping to capture Thomas Seabrook; during the raid, the Loyalists bayoneted Stephen by mistake. For this and perhaps other actions, David Forman moved against Edward Taylor on July 2: Several complaints having been made to me respecting your conduct, particularly acting as a spy amongst us… giving aid to a party of Tories and British, commanded by your son, the late militia Coll. in this county, now a refugee, by which means the party escaped the pursuit of a party of militia sent to attack them. I do therefore enjoin you for the future to confine yourself to your farm at Middletown, and do not attempt re-attempt to travel the road more than crossing it to go to your land on the north side of said town. It is unclear if Forman, who held only military commissions, had authority to impose house-arrest on Edward Taylor, especially when the New Jersey Council of Safety was actively trying and punishing New Jerseyans for similar offenses. Perhaps Forman, who had battled George Taylor’s raiding parties at least twice, was seeking revenge on the Taylor family. Aggrieved, Edward Taylor protested his treatment to the New Jersey Legislative Council (the Upper House of Legislature) later that July: I was sent for to appear before the commanding officer, Mr. Forman, and made a prisoner, which charges made against are entirely unjust. I am as innocent as an unborn child.... Tho' innocent I strictly obey the orders of confinement which is a considerable damage to me in my business, having a grist mill two or three miles from where I live, and nobody but the servants of my own house to attend her, who I cannot trust without being there, which occasions my mills to stand idle the chief part of the time. There is no evidence that the New Jersey Legislative Council acted on Taylor’s petition. Meanwhile, Taylor suffered harassment from neighbors. In 1778, he testified that in November, 1777: Daniel Bray, John Bray and George Johnson came to my house… to take the horse, which Daniel Bray broke the lock and not finding the horse in the stable, went to the field and took the horse from the Negro, where he was at work. When Taylor protested the confiscation of his horse, "said George Johnson abused me very much.” That same month, the New Jersey Council considered Taylor’s disaffection and compelled him to post a £1,000 bond and accept confinement in Princeton until the Monmouth County courts could convene and consider his offenses (the county courts had stopped meeting in 1776): Edward Taylor shall continue within one mile of the City of Princeton & not to go beyond the said limits without leave of the Council of Safety, therein (excepting that sd Edward Taylor shall have leave to appear at the next Court of Oyer & Terminer to be held in the County of Monmouth) and shall during sd time, neither do nor say anything to the prejudice of American liberty, nor give any intelligence to the elements of America. Taylor’s confinement was as much an act of political retribution as a punishment for his own actions. The order placing him under confinement in Princeton noted Taylor “shall be set at liberty when Thomas Canfield, a prisoner in New York, shall be discharged by the enemy.” With the exception of a brief return to Monmouth County in January 1778 to appear in court, Taylor remained in Princeton for five months. On May 27, Council of Safety, let him return home to seek a prisoner exchange: Agreed, that Edward Taylor be discharged from bond… and have leave to return home for 3 weeks upon entering into another bond, to return within that time to this place & remain there until further order of this Council of Safety, unless he shall in the mean time procure the releasement of John Willett, now a prisoner in New York. Taylor was successful in procuring Willett’s release on June 13. He was allowed to remain at his home in Middletown upon “pledging his faith and honor not to do or say anything contrary to the interest of the state or United States." The remaining war years were hard on him. He was indicted for trespass, two misdemeanors, and perjury in the county courts and his estate shrunk from 1200 acres of land, two slaves, and 42 head of livestock to 420 acres of land, no slaves, and 20 head of livestock at war’s end. He also signed a petition claiming that he was subject to abuses from the vigilante pro-Revolution group, the Retaliators . With his health in decline, Edward Taylor finalized his will. He disinherited his son, George. Any assets given to George would have been confiscated by the New Jersey government. Edward Taylor died shortly before the end of the war. Related Historical Site : Marlpit Hall Sources : Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2009) p 478; Deposition of David Forman, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #39; Deposition of William Bostwick, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #19; William H. Richardson's "Washington and the New Jersey Campaign of 1776," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 50, no. 2 (1952) p 144. 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. 2, pp. 1093, 1192; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Henry Segollets; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, 4 vols, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1970, v4, p237; Deposition, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #21; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 29; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 37; Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, Daniel Hendrickson of Middletown, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927); Deposition, Edward Taylor, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #39; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p202-3; Monmouth County Historical Association, The Grover Taylor House, (Freehold: MCHA) p 22-4; Order/Bond, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 6, November 6, 1777; Monmouth County Archives, Loose Common Pleas, box: CP 1776-1777, folder: 1777; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 164, 168; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 242; Monmouth County Historical Association, The Grover Taylor House, (Freehold: MCHA) p 22-4; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File , Edward Taylor, on file at the Monmouth County Historical Association. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > New Jersey Volunteers Drift into Other Loyalist Units by Michael Adelberg Robert Rogers raised a Loyalist corps in 1779 that included many Monmouth Loyalists who left the New Jersey Volunteers. They were likely the first Monmouth Loyalists to settle in Canada. - September 1779 - As discussed in prior articles and the author’s prior research, approximately six hundred Monmouth County Loyalists joined the 1st and 2nd Battalions of the New Jersey Volunteers in 1776 and 1777. The trajectories of these battalions were mostly unhappy. The 1st battalion was surprised and routed by Continental Troops at their camp on Staten Island in fall 1777 and the 2nd battalion suffered through a difficult march across New Jersey 1778 and gradual decline after that. Both battalion commanders—Elisha Lawrence and John Morris—became mired in controversies and lost their commands. As they lost men, both battalions consolidated into battalions originating from northern New Jersey. Monmouth Countians in the King’s Rangers One of the reasons that the ranks of the New Jersey Volunteers thinned was that their original recruits became dispirited and moved to other Loyalist units. The movement of Monmouth County Loyalists out of the New Jersey Volunteers and into other Loyalist units began in 1779. The earliest surviving record of Monmouth County Loyalists serving elsewhere appears to be a September 28, 1779, troop return of Major Robert Rogers’ Rangers. Rogers was a frontier fighter during the Seven Years War. In 1776, he offered his services to George Washington but was turned down. Offended, he raised a Loyalist corps from New York that became the Queen’s Rangers, but he left that unit. While in Nova Scotia in 1779, he received permission to raise a new Loyalist corps, the King’s Rangers. He recruited Loyalists from other units who were dispirited or denied their preferred rank as units consolidated. At least four Monmouth County officers (Captain John Longstreet, Lieutenant John Throckmorton, Ensign John Robins, and Ensign Joseph Beers) joined Rogers. The Monmouth men were first stationed with Rogers at Fort St. John in Quebec but would soon return to New York. Captain Samuel Hayden of the New Jersey Volunteers was not from Monmouth County, but there were many Monmouth Loyalists serving with him when he co-led the punishing raid of Tinton Falls in June 1779. By fall 1780, Hayden left the New Jersey Volunteers to command a company in the King's Rangers. Hayden’s August and December returns at New York include several Monmouth Countians (or probable Monmouth Countians): Lt. Throckmorton, Ens. Robins, Ens. Beers, Sgt. Alexander Campbell, and privates: Joel Bedell, Peter Crawford, Jonathan Bailey, John Williams, James Cottrell, Francis Bailey, Alexander Scoby, and John Gibbons. The enlistment dates of these men were as early as June 1, 1779, but May 26, 1780 was the most common date of enlistment. A 1782 return of Loyalist forces lists the King’s Rangers with two companies, one of which had a significant Monmouth County contingent. The officers are all Monmouth Countians: Capt. John Longstreet, Lt. Thomas Okerson, and Ens. Eleanor Taylor. Longstreet’s listing as a company captain this late in the war is curious because, in his own postwar Loyalist compensation application, he wrote of needing to retire from active service in the King’s Rangers because he was unable to raise enough men to lead a company. Irregularities like this one followed Longstreet throughout the war. Prior to the war, he straddled sides, commanding a company of New Jersey militia nominally loyal to the New Jersey Provincial Congress but known as the ”Tory Company .” He led his company to Sandy Hook and joined the British Army in July 1776, Longstreet apparently left his men and stayed in Monmouth County in 1777 to sell off much of his estate. When he left again for New York, his wife stayed home on a 25-acre estate in Freehold. She became the center of the ”Red House Controversy ” in which local officials sought to keep Mrs. Longstreet on the estate despite it being forfeited to the state and sold at auction. Longstreet joined the King’s Rangers in 1779 but left before the end of the war due to an insufficient number of recruits. William Taylor, an attorney in New Jersey’s illusory Loyalist government, testified against Longstreet at war’s end. Taylor asserted that Longstreet "is not of good character." While most of the rank and file from the King’s Rangers were from New England, about ten Monmouth Countians were enlisted men in the King’s Rangers. In addition to the nine men in Hayden’s company, Sergeant John Horner of Upper Freehold, according to his postwar Loyalist compensation of application, went into Roger’s Rangers in 1779. Private John Martin is noted in a genealogical source as being from Monmouth County. Stephen Davidson, a historian of the Loyalists who settled in Canada at war’s end, wrote that “when the N.J.V. consolidated the number of battalions from six to four, a number of officers found themselves without companies.” He further noted that “Hayden's Company [in the King’s Rangers] was formed from men of Old Monmouth County, New Jersey.” Davidson noted that Hayden’s company of Rangers went to Canada in the middle of 1782. They were likely the first Monmouth County Loyalists to relocate to Canada . There, the Loyalists “guarded rebel prisoners on a prison ship in Halifax Harbour.” They remained in Canada until the Rangers were disbanded at the end of 1783. Monmouth Countians in Other Loyalist Units As discussed in another article, about twenty Monmouth County Loyalists, led by John Taylor and William Stevenson, left the New Jersey Volunteers to join Patrick Ferguson’s American Volunteers in the Carolina Campaign in 1780. They suffered terrible defeat at the Battle of King’s Mountain. There is no reason to think these men returned to the New Jersey Volunteers. Dozens of Monmouth County African Americans agitated for freedom before the war and then left Monmouth County to join the British. Loyalist combat units were segregated, but the Black Pioneers were a corps of laborers that included many New Jersey African Americans. The “Black Brigade ” was an unofficial partisan corps based at Sandy Hook to illegally trade with and raid Monmouth County. It was led by a man known as Colonel Tye, who was likely a slave from Shrewsbury Township before the war. The Black Brigade is discussed in another article. Still other Monmouth County Loyalists left the New Jersey Volunteers for a British-tolerated vigilante group, the Associated Loyalists . Three companies of Associated Loyalists were commanded by Monmouth Countians, at least one of whom, Captain Thomas Crowell, had been an officer in the New Jersey Volunteers. Not every Monmouth Countian quit the New Jersey Volunteers. A cohort of Monmouth County Loyalists stayed in the New Jersey Volunteers through the end of the war. 1782 troop returns show several Monmouth County officers stayed in the unit, anchored by 68-year old Major Thomas Leonard. Lt. Colonels Lawrence and Morris continued to be listed in troop returns even though they had both been stripped of their commands. They were likely listed because they were drawing provisions and pensions. Lawrence, as documented by historian Tood Braisted, remained an active Loyalist, even without a formal command. Related Historic Site : Fort St. John (Quebec) Sources : Offer List, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Headquarters Papers of the British Army in America, PRO 30/55/2335; Mary Beacock Fryer, Rolls of the Provincial Corps, Canadian Command, American Revolutionary Period, (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 1981) pp. 99-105; New York Public Library, Collection: Great Britain-Army-Provincial Forces, 1783, item 1044; United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info ; Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 101. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984), p 401. Rutgers University Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Compensation Claims, D96, AO 13/18, reel 5. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The First Loyalist Raids Against Monmouth County by Michael Adelberg Thomas Seabrook’s home on Raritan Bay was vulnerable to attack. One of the first Loyalist raids against Monmouth County was an attempt to take him. His son was bayoneted in the raid. - March 1777 - December 1776 was the highwater mark for Monmouth’s Loyalists. The British Army had pushed Washington’s Continentals out of New Jersey into Pennsylvania and victoriously set up camp in Trenton. Across the interior of New Jersey, but especially in Monmouth County, Loyalists rose up. In three coordinated insurrections in Upper Freehold , Freehold-Middletown , and from Shrewsbury down the shore, Loyalists gained control of most of the county. The Monmouth militia melted away; hundreds signed British “protection” papers. But the tables turned quickly. Monmouth County was opened up to an advancing Continental Army after the Battle of Trenton, and a regiment of Pennsylvanians promptly routed Monmouth Loyalists at Freehold on January 2, 1777. Over the next month, the Pennsylvanians pushed east and broke up Loyalist associations in Middletown and Shrewsbury. More than 200 Loyalists were captured and jailed; hundreds more fled behind British lines as Loyalist refugees . Some joined the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers while others sought to make a living and extract revenge on their own terms. Loyalist Raids Begin It is arguable exactly when Monmouth County’s first Loyalist raid occurred, but the first clear evidence of Loyalists plundering their former neighbors appears to be an action on March 11. In a March 12 report to Congress, General Israel Putnam, commanding the Continental Army in central New Jersey, mentioned that "a fortnight before, 17 horned cattle and 37 horses were taken in the evening by a parcel of Provincials, on the account of the troops landing in Monmouth." If the first plundering raid occurred on March 11, the first capture and arson occurred a month later. David Forman warned the Continental Army of the coming raid, prompting a response from General Israel Putnam on April 11: “Should the enemy attempt to march to Middletown, you will have it in your power to annoy them & impede their march.” That raid occurred on April 13, Forman reported, “a party of British troops were discovered making the Hook to Middletown -- I shall immediately put myself in their way & attempt to attack them -- at present I am very weak here, my numbers do not exceed 160 rank & file." But neither Putnam nor the Monmouth militia under David Forman, reeling from defeats at the Battle of the Navesink and Sandy Hook , offered any resistance. The British-Loyalist party landed on the Raritan Bayshore and marched to Mt. Pleasant, west of Middletown. There, they took Reverend Charles McKnight prisoner and burned the Presbyterian church. He was put on a prison ship and denied the parole commonly offered to “gentleman ” prisoners. Fatally ill in January 1778, McKnight was released home only to die days later. George Taylor’s Raids In June, George Taylor, the former Monmouth militia colonel who was commissioned colonel of a non-existent Loyalist militia , led a string of incursions into Monmouth County. On June 1, Taylor led a party toward Shrewsbury, but was engaged by a militia party and driven back with two dead and one captured. On June 10, Taylor led another incursion, this time near Middletown, where he was met by a party of Middletown militia; in the ensuing skirmish both parties had one man wounded. On June 16, Taylor led a party that landed on the Raritan Bayshore. Their likely target was Major Thomas Seabrook, who had signed a British loyalty oath during the December insurrection but was now leading militia against his oath. The Loyalists entered Seabrook’s house, but he was not there. According to antiquarian accounts, the Loyalists noticed a sag in the ceiling boards and surmised that Seabrook was hiding in the loft. A Loyalist thrust his bayonet into the sag and hit someone. Stephen Seabrook, a private in the militia and son of Thomas, was bayoneted. The raiders carried off 200 lbs. of pork gathered for the militia and £31 of various household items. The young Seabrook was badly wounded but survived. After this incident, the Seabrook family moved inland for safety. George Taylor returned to Middletown again on June 21 in an attempt to bring out recruits allegedly waiting to be liberated. Taylor’s party skirmished with the militia; four men were wounded. Three days later, Taylor went inland into Freehold Township, perhaps looking to capture David Forman. He skirmished with a militia party likely led by Forman—two men were captured, one was killed and one was wounded. The Pennsylvania Packet printed a report this skirmish that was likely written by Forman: I laid the bait last Saturday to break up the plundering of Coll. George Taylor; it so far succeeded that I was within an ace of taking the whole; we took one white man and one Negro. While the rest were swimming toward a boat that was coming to take them off, we fired upon them, and killed one wounded another, who were both hauled into the boat. It is noteworthy that raiding parties before and after Taylor’s incursions frequently accomplished their missions without alerting (and then fighting) the Monmouth militia. In contrast, Taylor’s parties always seemed to draw a response from the local militia. Taylor lingered at least once to visit with his father, Edward Taylor, who assisted Taylor’s party with their withdrawal another time. Also, Taylor’s parties—whatever else their objective—were continuously recruiting for the New Jersey Volunteers and Taylor’s own meager Loyalist militia. In order to do so, Taylor had to speak with people—some of whom inevitably alerted neighbors who formed the militia and clashed with Taylor. There is no reason to believe that Taylor’s June incursions yielded many recruits. While the Monmouth militia performed well against Taylor’s incursions, the succession of raids struck fear into the Whigs living near Sandy Hook. The Loyalist New York Gazette and Weekly Mercury reported: We hear that Mr. Forman, with about 400 of the Rebel Army, has abandoned Shrewsbury and is gone to Middletown, about 12 miles distant. Many of the Committeemen and other hot people have followed Mr. Forman's example, being apprehensive of a visit. The decision of vulnerable Whigs to move inland to safer environs is discussed in another article. As for Taylor, his relatively mild incursions would soon be eclipsed by the larger, punishing raids from British regulars and stealthier, crueler attacks from more desperate Loyalist partisans. Related Historic Site : Seabrook Wilson House Sources : Israel Putnam to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I159, Letters of General Officers, p 67; Israel Putnam to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; Israel Putnam to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I159, Letters from General Officers, p67; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 393; Munn, David, Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey, (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, New Jersey Geological Survey, 1976) p 139; Howard Peckham, The Toll of Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 35; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v4, p247-8; Monmouth County Historical Association, Articles File: "Letter from Freehold"; Howard Peckham, The Toll of Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1974) p 35; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, pp. 399-400; David C. Munn, comp., Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey (Trenton, N.J.: Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Geology, 1976) p 42; Monmouth County Historical Association, Articles File: "Letter from Freehold"; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 156; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v1, p 306-14; Richard Harrison, Princetonians: 1769-1775: A Biographical Dictionary (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2014) vol. 2, pp. 156-9. Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County, New Jersey (Philadelphia, 1885), pp. 522-3. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Capture of the Brigantine, Britannia by Michael Adelberg On December 29, 1779, Middletown-men captured the stranded British ship, Britannia. They rowed the cargo of the vessel to shore. The men profited handsomely from the capture. - December 1779 - As noted in prior articles, starting in 1779, New York-bound British/Loyalist ships with valuable cargo were vulnerable to capture from New England privateers because of the weakened British naval presence at Sandy Hook. Further, local militia officers opportunistically took vulnerable British/Loyalist vessels that grounded off the Monmouth shore. So, perhaps it was only a matter of time before local militia officers would have the opportunity to take a valuable vessel near the British base at Sandy Hook. The Capture of the Britannia The Britannia was a Loyalist privateer captained by Jonathan Stout and recently arrived from a Caribbean port with a cargo of that included coffee and sugar, high value products in short supply in New Jersey. The brigantine carried 16 cannon and 4 swivel guns. According to a number of secondary accounts, the Britannia was anchored inside of Sandy Hook when, on December 28, 1779, it broke loose from its moorings. The ship grounded in shallow water near present-day Keansburg. Ice around the guard ship at Sandy Hook prevented the British from helping the distressed ship; Britannia was quickly frozen in place and soon made helpless. On December 29, the Britannia was spotted by a company of state troops (militia on long term assignment) and Middletown Militia, both reporting to Colonel Asher Holmes. They captured the ship without a fight. The cargo and munitions of the ship were rowed to shore. The ice soon thawed enough for Holmes to the Britannia taken 20 miles east to Cheesequake Creek, where the prize would be less susceptible to British recapture. The capture of the Britannia was important enough for Colonel Lewis Nicola, at Egg Harbor, to notify the Continental Congress on January 12, 1780. He reported: A dismasted twenty gun brig called the Britannia on shore at the west bank [of Sandy Hook]. The Jersey people have got the guns and stores out of the former; it is not possible for any vessel or boat to go from New York Harbor to the relief of the vessels on shore. The Britannia was taken by a company of State Troops drawn mostly from Middletown Township. The company was officered by Captain Samuel Carhart, Lieutenant John Schenck, Ensign Peter Vanderhoff, Sergeant Jacob Allen, Corporal Burrowes Norris, Drummer Samuel Smith, and 27 privates. Additional Middletown militia under Lieutenant Barnes Smock were present (nephew of the captain of the same name). Some accounts credit Colonel Holmes with leading the capture, but, based on primary sources, it is unlikely that Holmes was there at the moment of capture. A half-dozen Monmouth militiamen mention the capture of the Britannia in their post-war veterans’ pension applications. Three participated in the capture: Cornelius Smock recalled that the Britannia “went ashore in a snowstorm at Conkaskunk, and her commander surrendered her to his brother, Lt. Barnes J. Smock, who then commanded said company." Adam Striker recalled that he "was present at the capture of the Britannia , a British brig which was driven ashore near Point Comfort... the ship capitulated." Cornelius Vanderhoff recalled being stationed "at Conkaskunk Cove" when the ship was taken. After the Capture Three other militiamen (or their widows) recalled activities after the capture. Sergeant James Wall recalled that he “was appointed one of an escort to conduct a party of British marines, taken from the British brig Britannia , that was enclosed in the ice near the Monmouth shore, to Elizabethtown, but that on my way there, my horse slipt [sic] on the ice & fell, fracturing my leg in his fall.” Derrick Sutphin's widow, Altche Sutphin, recalled that "part of her rigging & contents were kept at his house for safekeeping." Philip Freneau, who would become known as the “Poet of the American Revolution ,” recalled receiving “$800 in Continental money as his share of the British Brig Britannia – of which $120 was shortly after paid for a pair of shoes." On January 13, 1780, the New Jersey Gazette advertised the capture of the Britannia with a cargo and supplies at the home of Garret Schenk of Middletown. The cargo of beef, pork, coffee, sugar, powder, lead, muskets, and swords, and the hull of the Britannia would be offered for sale. The following week the Gazette advertised that the sale would occur on January 27 at Garret Schenck’s house in Middletown. It said: “to be sold the cargo and also the hull of the brig Britannia, now laying near Cheesequake Creek." Interestingly, the Britannia 's 16 cannon and 4 swivels would be sold at Burlington on January 31. This suggests that it was too dangerous to keep and sell these war materials on the Monmouth shore, where they could be retaken by Loyalist raiders. Indeed, Loyalists in New York were re-organizing into new groups like the Associated Loyalists and the Black Brigade precisely so that they could be nimble in raising parties for raiding opportunities. Subsequent advertisements in the New Jersey Gazette suggest that the Admiralty Court might not have condemned the Britannia before these advertised sales. A January 24 advertisement wrote of a coming Admiralty Court at Gilbert Barton’s tavern in Allentown, under Judge John Imlay, to consider claims on the vessel from Colonel Holmes and Samuel Dennis, a Shrewsbury militia captain. It is possible that Dennis was contesting rights to the prize. On March 15, the New Jersey Gazette advertised a sale on March 27 at the house of Cornelius Van Dorn in Middletown for “the sails, rigging, and small arms of the Brig Britannia… lately captured by Col. [Asher] Holmes and others." Samuel Dennis advertised the sale—suggesting that the admiralty court awarded the prize to Holmes, but that Holmes then deputized (and paid) Dennis to dispose of the vessel’s remaining items. While the vessel was condemned to Holmes, he divided the prize money with his men. On March 5, 1780, the proceeds were divided. Colonel Holmes received 11 ¼ shares of the prize. Other officers received between 3-9 shares based on rank. The enlisted men received 2/3 of one share. It appears that a share was valued at roughly £300, a huge amount of money for a small farmer (a good horse cost roughly £20, a daily wage to a laborer was about £1). It is unknown how the proceeds of the final March 27 sale were divided among the men. The New Jersey Legislature later paid Sergeant Wall an additional £10 S2 for "going to Elizabethtown with the prisoners taken on board the brig, Britannia and so forth." The Britannia was one of perhaps a dozen prizes taken by local militia and state troops. It was clearly among the more valuable and better documented of those captures. The capture shows how state troops drawn from Monmouth County and local militia operated seamlessly, in contrast to the clear delineation between Continental troops and militia. The complicated post-capture documentation includes several sales and admiralty court notices; this demonstrates that cash windfalls generated interests and intrigues that tested New Jersey’s nascent institutions. While the division of the Britannia was apparently amicable, other prizes were the subject of prolonged litigation and contested for years. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : Maureen Foster, The Capture of the British Privateer Britannia by the Middletown Militia, ( https://monmouthtimeline.org/timeline/capture-of-britannia/ ); Return of State Troops, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, New Jersey, folder 58, #125; Information on the capture of the brig Britannia in Robert Van Benthuysen, "Philip Freneau: The War Years", Monmouth County Historical Association Newsletter, Spring 1978, n. 3, p1; Capture of the Brig Britannia in National Archives, Collection 881, R 593; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Adam Stricker; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Derrick Sutphin; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, pp. 136-7; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, James Wall of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 20365301; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Cornelius Vanderhoff; National Archives, Philip Freneau, W.23069, State of New Jersey, Monmouth County; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Derrick Sutphin; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Cornelius Smock; Receipt, National Archives, Collection 881, R 593; Lewis Nicola to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 187, item 169, #191; Lewis Nicola to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I63, Letters from General & Other Officers, p 188; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, pp. 136-7.; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, p 147; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930. 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