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 > County Commissioners Inventory Loyalist Estates by Michael Adelberg Many Loyalist women stayed behind when their husbands went off to the British and some had property “applied to public use.” This sketch depicts a Loyalist woman having property taken. - August 1776 - By early August 1776, at least 150 Monmouth Countians had become active Loyalists by leaving their homes to join the British Army; hundreds more were engaging in activities that bordered on active Loyalism such as illegally trading with the British and refusing to participate in the militia. Monmouth County’s Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) sought a countermeasure that would punish their active enemies and deter potential enemies from going down the same path. Confiscating the estates of Loyalists was that measure. On August 7, Monmouth County became the first New Jersey county to begin the process for confiscating Loyalist estates (under the legal argument that an individual “forfeited” his property by joining with the enemy and fighting against his country). The first step toward confiscation was inventorying the estates of suspected traitors. After that, inquisitions would be held to determine that the Loyalist in question was in fact a traitor deserving of estate confiscation. The final step would be selling the estate at public auction. Three commissioners were appointed oversee this high-stakes process—Samuel Forman (Colonel of the Upper Freehold militia), Kenneth Hankinson (a captain in the Freehold militia and future Chairman of the vigilante group called the Retaliators ), and Jacob Wikoff of Freehold (who would become the county tax collector and paymaster for Monmouth County’s State Troops). The first estates were inventoried on August 7. They belonged to two Freehold Loyalists, Thomas Leonard (now a major in the New Jersey Volunteers) and John Longstreet (now a captain in the New Jersey Volunteers). The primary inventoried assets are listed below: Thomas Leonard – total value of inventoried assets £1909 3 slaves (named one named male slave, Paris, valued at £50), 300 acre farm (L800), 10 acre property near Court House (£500), 30 acre lot (£100), Other movable property. John Longstreet Jr – total value of inventoried assets £2887 4 slaves (including one named male slave, Prince, 2 women, 1 child), 1 servant, 2.5 acre lot in town "where William Taylor, Esq., lives" (£500), 2nd "town lot, where Israel Britton lives" (£200), 5 acre lot "house & lot where Adam Shaw lives" (£700), additional town lot "where John Combs lives" (£50), 8 acre lot (L50), farm "wherein Mr. Longstreet lived" (£1000), Other movable property. Inventorying estates did not displace the families of Loyalists who remained at home. In fact, the inventory of Thomas Leonard’s estate included a note from his wife, Mary Leonard: "I, the subscriber, take charge of the estate of my husband and oblige myself to be accountable to sd Commissioners." In a male-dominated era, the rights of wives who stayed on the family estate of a Loyalist husband was an open question. The status and welfare of the Loyalist families that remained at home would greatly complicate the confiscation of those estates. Other estates were inventoried shortly after. On August 10, the New Jersey Convention requested "inventories of the Estates of Anthony Woodward and William Guisebertson [William Giberson], of Monmouth County, persons who have absconded from their homes, and joined the enemy." The Estate Forfeiture Commissioners continued their work through August. On August 12, they inventoried the estates of a handful of Upper Freehold Loyalists (including Woodward and Giberson): James Grover - 250 acre farm (£1000), slave boy, 30 hogs, horses & cattle and other items -- total value £1281; William Giberson - 40 acre farm w/ corn £351 and 2 slaves: male Ike (£60), girl Rachel (£35); James Nealon - 1 gristmill, 1 sawmill, 11 acres (£600), bills and bonds (£600), 2 "little Negro girls" (£50), other items – total value £1321; and Anthony Woodward - 150 acre farm (£800), 250 acre farm (£1500), 250 acre farm (£500), salt meadow (£35), 60 hogs (£48), 30 sheep (£15), other items – total value £3317. For Grover, it was noted that he shared his estate with three of brothers, none of whom had left for the British Army. Therefore, the commissioners noted that they could only confiscate one fourth of the estate. Finally, on August 14, the Commissioners inventoried the estates of two Shrewsbury Loyalists: Robert Morris - 50 acres, sawmill £120), £73 in other items; Jeremiah North - no land, items worth £19 s11. Parallel to this process, other Loyalists had parts of the estates “applied to public use” – meaning that the new government commandeered their property and provided compensation. Brothers John Taylor and Morford Taylor of Shrewsbury, for example, had their estates "applied to public use" in 1777. For this, they were compensated with $373 of nearly worthless Continental money. John Morris, who had become a Colonel of New Jersey Volunteers, also had his property “applied to public use.” Dozens of smaller property confiscations and livestock impressments occurred without being documented. These first actions of the Forfeiture Commissioners were only an opening salvo – ultimately, more than 100 Monmouth County Loyalists had their estates confiscated and sold at public auction. However, this did not occur until 1779, when it occurred in a scandal-riddled process that generated New Jersey Legislature investigations and several lawsuits. Related Historic Site : National Guard Museum of New Jersey Sources : Francis Bazley Lee, New Jersey as a Colony and as a State (New York: The Publishing Society of New Jersey, 1902), vol 2, pp. 93-4; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #10122; 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 1661; Peter Force, American Archives: Documents of the American Revolution, 1774-6 (digitized: http://dig.lib.niu.edu/amarch/find.doc.html), v6: p 1661; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Revolutionary War, Numbered Manuscripts, #10122; Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) p 847. Previous Next

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

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Auction of Loyalist Estates by Michael Adelberg In early 1779, 70 Loyalist estates were confiscated and sold in Monmouth County. In addition, Col. Samuel Forman purchased the Middlesex County estate of New York Loyalist Oliver DeLancey. - March 1779 - In the early years of the Revolutionary War, Americans on both sides believed the war would be short and reconciliation was possible. Through 1777, punishments meted out against Loyalists through the New Jersey Council of Safety and first courts were generally light. While New Jersey passed laws that foreshadowed the confiscation of Loyalist estates, the state was not ready to do so. It appointed Forfeiture Commissioners for every county (Kenneth Hankinson, Samuel Forman, Joseph Lawrence, Jacob Wikoff for Monmouth, but only empowered them to inventory Loyalist estates in 1776 and then rent-out those estates in 1777. In 1778, hopes of reconciliation faded. In New Jersey, leaders were now ready to take the ultimate step of confiscating and selling the estates of Loyalists. In agricultural society, real estate was the primary path to gaining wealth. Once real estate was confiscated, the loyalist could not return; enmity would be permanent. Further, the families of the departed Loyalists, many of which laid low on the family farm, now needed to be turned-out—creating hardships and sympathy for families who, in many cases, had done nothing wrong. Historians Ruth Keesey and Larry Gerlach separately studied the Loyalist estate confiscation and sale process established by the state of New Jersey. They note that an April 1778 law, "An Act for Forfeiting the Real Estate of Certain Fugitives and Offenders” built on previously passed laws. It provided necessary details regarding the final steps for confiscation and sale of estates. The law required each county’s three Forfeiture Commissioners (plus one alternate) to perform the following tasks: 1.) Gather information against Loyalists who have left the State; 2.) Present evidence to a grand jury presided over by a Justice of the Peace (magistrate); 3.) Summon and advertise the accused Loyalist to appear before the grand jury and answer charges; 4.) If the grand jury finds cause, the magistrate forwards the case to the Court of Common Pleas; 5.) Court of Common Pleas, with a full jury, determines if the estate should be confiscated; 6.) If the jury determines the estate should be forfeited, Commissioners hold an auction and sell the estate. The law was controversial. The same month that it passed, the New Jersey Assembly debated a bill that would effectively derail it by establishing a permanent estate-rental process to supersede confiscations. That bill failed by a 9-19 vote, despite the support of James Mott—one of Monmouth County’s three delegates in the Assembly. Mott would later be targeted by more strident Whigs (supporters of the Revolution) in Monmouth County for not being more spirited in his support of the Revolution. The multi-step confiscation process proved difficult to execute. Courts had just started meeting again—and were often hamstrung by incomplete juries, unclear procedures, and first-time judges still learning the law. In September 1778, the Monmouth and Middlesex County Commissioners for Forfeited Estates petitioned the New Jersey Assembly "setting forth that they find difficulties in the execution of their duty.” They “mentioned sundry cases in which further legal provision is necessary in order to enable them to fulfill it [their duty] to an effect.” The specifics of their complaints are unknown, but the New Jersey Assembly soon passed two laws to ease the confiscation progress. In December 1778, the Legislature passed a law clarifying that Loyalists from other states who owned land in New Jersey could have their New Jersey estates confiscated under New Jersey law. In January 1779, the Legislature empowered Governor William Livingston to exile the wives and children of Loyalists from their estates if the husband had gone behind enemy lines. Moving a family behind British lines removed a physical obstacle to confiscation and a financial burden from the poor relief rolls—but it created ethical dilemmas which led to rule-bending on behalf of favored families. It is worth noting that a handful of Loyalist women were exiled from Monmouth County prior to the passage of this law. Since October 1776, under authority granted from previous laws, Monmouth County's commissioners had already performed the first three steps of the confiscation process and were renting out Loyalist estates before the April legislation. This is the subject of prior articles. Monmouth County’s First Loyalist Estate Auctions The first auction of Loyalist estates in Monmouth County took place on March 17, 1779. Sixteen estates of eleven Freehold Township Loyalists were sold off at auction. Within the next month, similar auctions were held in Middletown (March 22), Upper Freehold (April 5) and Shrewsbury (April 9). The sparsely populated townships of Dover and Stafford did not have auctions in 1779, though Loyalist estates from these townships were auctioned off in 1784. Chart 1a shows the 1779 confiscations and sales by township. The Loyalists whose estates were confiscated and sold at auction in 1779 included several key pre-Revolution county leaders: John Wardell (judge of the county courts), Samuel Cooke (minister of the county’s most important pre-war congregation ), Thomas Leonard (sheriff), and Samuel Osborne (tax collector). They were early and vocal opponents of the Revolution. Four were officers in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers : John Morris, Leonard, John Longstreet and John Throckmorton. Some Loyalists may have been guilty of nothing other than relocating to New York (Thomas Bills and Benazer Hinckson, for example). While many of the county’s most prominent Loyalists were targeted, a few were conspicuously absent from these confiscations. For example, the estate of Elisha Lawrence, Lt. Colonel of the 1st Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers, was not confiscated. Perhaps this is because his cousin, also named Elisha Lawrence, was a Lt. Colonel in the county militia. The impact of family connections on confiscations are discussed in another article. Chart 1b shows that about half of all confiscations were from yeoman; rich and poor men together comprised the other half. Loyalist Estates Confiscated and Sold at Auction in 1779 by Estate Size: Note : People holding less than five acres of land were commonly listed as “householders” or “cottagers” in tax records to denote their lack of an appreciable parcel of land. The owners of these small plots were generally agricultural laborers who worked the lands of others. Estate purchasers were predominantly powerful men in the local Revolutionary movement—including Colonel David Forman (who purchased four estates), Quartermaster officer David Rhea, delegate to Congress, Nathaniel Scudder, Colonel Samuel Forman (who purchased three estates, one in Middlesex County) and four other militia officers who purchased two estates each: Captain John Schenck, Lieutenant Tunis Vanderveer, Thomas Seabrook, and Thomas Chadwick. A complete list of the 1779 estate confiscations and purchases is in the appendix of this article. Curiosities and irregularities plagued Monmouth County’s proceedings from the start. For example, on January 29, 1779, the New Jersey Gazette advertised that at the Court of Common Pleas for Monmouth County nine Loyalist estates were condemned for confiscation: William Perrine of Upper Freehold; John Williams of Freehold; Henry Reiter, Samuel Stevenson, William Stevenson, George Rapalje of Middletown; Silas Cook, James King, and Joseph Price of Shrewsbury. All were charged identically with "joining the Army of the King of Great Britain." But only the estates of the Perrine and Williams families were sold at auction in March and April. Monmouth County’s Forfeiture Commissioners prepared different confiscation lists at different times, and they contain inconsistencies and omissions. For example, the set of records used for this article list John Wardell and Thomas Leonard as holding more plots of lands than records compiled later in the war. The records used for this article do not include the mega-estate, “Morrisdom,” owned by Philip Kearney of Middletown. This 900-acre estate was likely the most expensive confiscated estate in the county. Kearney’s Loyalist compensation claim at war’s end asserts it was confiscated in 1779 but this estate only appears in some forfeiture records. Only six of the estates confiscated in March-April 1779 appear in the Book of Inquisitions that should have prefaced confiscation. These and other oddities, as well as scandals surrounding certain estate sales, are discussed in the next article. According to historian Cornelius Vermuele, 150 Monmouth County Loyalists had their estates confiscated. Only one New Jersey county had more Loyalists who lost land (Bergen, 167) and only two other counties approached Monmouth’s total (Middlesex, 130 and Essex, 128). I am unable to fully affirm Vermuele’s figure (a British list compiled in 1787 lists 113 Loyalists), but given the different lists in existence, his figure is certainly plausible. In a county with less than 3,000 households (including householders and single men), it can be credibly estimated that roughly 5% of all estates were taken. Related Historic Site : New Jersey State House and State Museum Appendix: Table Group 8 : Monmouth County Loyalist Estates Auctioned in March-April 1779 Sources : Ruth M. Keesey, "New Jersey Legislation Concerning Loyalists," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 79 (1961), p 87; Larry Gerlach, New Jersey in the American Revolution 1763-1783 A Documentary History (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1975) pp. 259-60; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 3, p 89; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 37, #78; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 37, #78; Monmouth County Commissioners for Forfeited Estates, Rutgers University Special Collections; Philip Kearny, Rutgers University, Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, Coll. D96, PRO AO 13/109, reel 8; David Fowler, egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 95 note 79; Cornelius G. Vermeule, "The Active New Jersey Loyalists," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 52 (1934), p 93; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 3, p 111; Princeton University Library, Stockton Family Papers, box 2, folder, 2, "Deed of the Commissioners of Middlesex & Monmouth Counties to Samuel Forman" Princeton University Library, Accessed Nov. 2019; Book of Inquisitions Against Loyalist Estates, Monmouth County Archives, Revolutionary War Papers, Aaron Dunham, Auditor for New Jersey, "A list of names of those persons whose property was confiscated in the several counties of the State of New Jersey, for joining the Army of the King of Great Britain", box 1; Great Britain, Public Record Office, Audit Office, Class 12, Volume 85, folios 43-46. 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 > Privateer Captain William Gray Clashes with London Traders by Michael Adelberg While dozens of privateers took British ships near Sandy Hook, they mostly ignored the Loyalist gallies that rowed or sailed in their midst. William Gray, however, took two Loyalist boats in 1782. - January 1782 - As noted in prior articles, in 1779, large numbers of privateer vessels from New England began “cruising” the sea lanes to and from Sandy Hook, capturing vulnerable British/Loyalist shipping. While there is a great deal of documentation of the larger prizes they took and their periodic showdowns with British naval vessels, there is little documentation about the encounters between these privateers and the Loyalist boats that sailed the same New Jersey shoreline and violently clashed with local militia. Dozens of small Loyalist vessels carried out the so-called London Trade , bringing the farm goods and lumber of disaffected New Jersians to British buyers at Sandy Hook and New York. Yet there is almost no documentation of the interactions between New England privateers and London Traders. Perhaps the privateers were more interested in larger prizes than small trading vessels, but it is also likely that there were actions that simply went undocumented because the prizes were small and they were taken into small inlets where nobody wrote up a report for a newspaper. Captain William Gray Attacks London Traders For this reason, the actions of the Massachusetts privateer, Dart , captained by William Gray, is unusual. Gray’s capture of two vessels, and attempted capture of a third, in January 1782, is well documented. On February 6, 1782, the New Jersey Gazette reported that on January 19: Arrived at Toms River, the schooner Dart privateer, from Salem, Captain William Gray, and brought in with him a sloop prize taken from the Black Jack, a galley belonging to New York; and the next day his boat, with seven men, went in pursuit of a brig which was near the bar, but neither boat nor men have been heard of since. The final piece of the New Jersey Gazette report is noteworthy: “The next day his boat, with seven men, went in pursuit of a brig which was near the bar, but neither boat nor men have been heard of since.” According to antiquarian sources, which vary on the details, Gray went to Dillon's Island in Barnegat Bay and gave chase to a London Trading boat owned by William Dillon, though Dillon was not in it. Gray captured the boat, Lucy, when it grounded outside Cranberry Inlet. They brought it into Toms River. The next day, Gray, with eight men in a whaleboat pursued a Loyalist brig, which was, ironically, being piloted by William Dillon. Gray’s boat and the London Traders kept up a running fire all the way to Manasquan. Despite being outnumbered, Gray attempted to board the brig. In the resulting melee on the deck of the brig, Gray and six of his men were captured. Gray was jailed in New York for four months (another source claims six) before being exchanged. (Note: One antiquarian source suggests that Gray was victorious in this third encounter with London Traders.) A New Jersey Admiralty Court announcement from Abiel Aiken (the court’s agent at Toms River ) advertised that a court would be held on March 16 at the house of James Green in Freehold to hear Captain William Gray’s claim (in absentia) on the sloop Lucy "taken on her voyage from Egg Harbor to New York" with a cargo and "a Negro man named York." The claim was against William Dillon. Before the war, Dillon was a boatman from Toms River. He was convicted of treason and sentenced to death at the 2nd Monmouth Court of Oyer and Terminer in 1778, but was pardoned. Dillon returned to Toms River and rowed out to a British party later that year when it raided the port to reclaim the vessel, Love & Unity . While Dillon had a role in capturing Gray, he lost his boat and slave. He may have desired revenge for the losses and prior abuses. Dillon returned to Dover Township two months later as a guide for a raiding party of Associated Loyalists that razed Toms River . This is the subject of another article. It appears that Gray exacted revenge on Monmouth County Loyalists after his release. Thomas Brown of Dover Township was the son of Captain Samuel Brown, one of a half-dozen Monmouth County militia officers who blurred the lines between militia service and privateering. Thomas Brown recalled an action against the Pine Robber gang of William Davenport in June 1782. His Dover militia company, in the row vessel named Civil Usage, planned to attack William Davenport’s Pine Robber gang at Clam Town (present-day Tuckerton). The Dover militia used themselves as a decoy by rowing through Little Egg Harbor and lured a Pine Robber galley to attack them. Gray's privateer brig then closed on the Pine Robbers. Brown recalled: "The vessels engaged. Captain Davenport and eight or nine of his men were killed by the first broadside of the privateer... and was immediately taken possession of by Captain Gray and sunk." Davenport and the defeat of the Pine Robbers at Forked River is the subject of another article. Other New England Privateers along the Disaffected Monmouth Shore With the exception of Gray, it is remarkable how little documentation exists of New England privateers clashing with local disaffected and Loyalists on the lower Monmouth shore. This is despite the fact that New England privateers would have come in contact with the disaffected residents of this region dozens of times as they came into New Jersey’s inlets for supplies or to escape storms and British warships. Privateers towing prizes into Chestnut Neck (the inland village up the Mullica River from Egg Harbor) or Toms River would have routinely passed small clusters of cabins and boats used by London Traders and Pine Robbers. Yet it appears that an informal détente existed much of the time between privateers and disaffected shore residents. Privateers and disaffected were on different sides in the war, but both were fundamentally opportunists. There apparently was little to be gained from hostilities. The experience of the Rhode Island sloop, Providence , at Clam Town in November 1779 is telling. The ship’s surgeon, Zuriel Waterman, recalled coming into Little Egg Harbor on November 4, where he: "went on shore at Foxborough Isle.” The island and the disaffected family living there did not impress Waterman: It has but one wretched house upon it, being mostly a marsh spot of rising ground where the house stands; it is 7 miles distant from a little village called Clamtown and fronts the entrance of the [Egg] Harbor. The house is inhabited by one Moses Mulliner, his wife, 2 daughters and a son. Waterman spent two days on the island, during which time nine crew deserted. On November 6, Waterman "went to Mulliner's to get some rum... came to anchor at Mulliner's house." After purchasing what they could from Mulliner, Waterman and other officers went to Clamtown. They "stayed and drank chocolate and played checkers, delaying some time until after dark." On November 9, the officers re-provisioned their vessel, while noting that "articles are very scarce and dear." Waterman took the time to write down the exorbitant prices the privateers were charged for purchasing in Continental dollars . The New Englanders paid: gallon of rum - $80, pound of sugar - $7, pound of coffee - $7, pound of gunpowder - $40, bushel of potatoes - $12, pair of shoes - $60, 1 turkey - $15. Waterman further noted the exchange rate of $1 of specie for $30-40 Continental dollars. However, the privateer officers found some solace on November 12 when they "sold our runaway [sailor's] clothes at vendue, amounted to above £100." Despite spending more than a week in the epicenter of the London Trade and the lair of a large Pine Robber gang, no shots were fired between the privateers and the disaffected locals. The Providence left Little Egg Harbor on November 13. Related Historic Site : Cedar Bridge Tavern Sources : William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 79; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties, (Bayonne, N.J.: E. Gardner and Son, 1890) pp. 80-84; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930, February 6, 1782; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 79-80; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930, February 13, 1782; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 79; William MacMahon, South Jersey Towns (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1973) p 305; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p91; John C. Dann, The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980) pp 143; Zuriel Waterman, Rhode Islanders Record the Revolution: the Journals of William Humphrey and Zuriel Waterman (Providence: Rhode Island Publications Society, 1984) pp. 73-7. 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 > Toms River Emerges as Privateer Port by Michael Adelberg Due to financial gains from privateering, the formerly poor residents of Toms River acquired the wealth to construct a small fort (the “Blockhouse”) to protect the village and its port. - January 1779 - By any measure, Little Egg Harbor (commonly called “Egg Harbor” at the time) was New Jersey’s busiest privateer port during the Revolutionary War. But it was not the only one. New Brunswick would become the focal point for the small-vessel privateers that preyed on British shipping in the Raritan Bay. On the Atlantic shore, there were two other privateer ports in addition to Egg Harbor—Cape May to its south, and Toms River to its north. First Privateer Prizes at Toms River The first evidence of privateer activities at Toms River is a June 10, 1778, letter to George Washington from Philemon Dickinson (commanding the New Jersey militia). Within a larger report on preparations for the expected march of the British Army across New Jersey, Dickinson informed Washington: Two valuable Prizes were sunk into Toms River, two days ago, by a small New England Privateer. Part of the Cargoes consists of one hundred & fifty hogsheads Rum—this small Privateer within five weeks past, has taken Prizes, to the amount of, One hundred & fifty thousand pounds. The New England privateer was Captain Benjamin Pratt. The Loyalist New York Gazette reported about his captures on June 19: There are now at Cranberry Inlet in New Jersey three row gallies from New London, of four guns each, that have taken several vessels, among them a schooner from Cork with provisions, and a vessel from the West Indies with rum and sugar. Cranberry Inlet connected Toms River to the ocean. It was filled in during a storm in the early 1800s and no longer exists. It is easy to imagine that the inlet was shallow and subject to shifting sand bars. The next vessel taken near Toms River was the large brig, Love & Unity , which grounded at Cranberry Inlet in August 1778. While loaded, it sat too deep in the water to be brought into shallow Toms River. Its cargo was unloaded, and then the vessel was brought in. Months later, a British raiding party recovered the vessel but not its cargo. This is the subject of another article. Antiquarian sources suggest that January 1779 was the first month in which several prizes were brought into Toms River. They were: sloop Fancy ; schooner Hope with cargo of pitch, tar & salt; brig Dove with cargo of rum; sloop Skipjack ; unnamed smaller vessels. The Fancy and the Hope were condemned at admiralty court to John Chadwick and John Cook, both of whom lived near Toms River. They were sold at Toms River on March 1. The final disposition of the other ships is not known. According to another antiquarian source, Major John Cook, the senior militia officer of Toms River, led two whale boats in capturing the Hope . The prizes of January 1779 apparently convinced the New Jersey government to appoint John Potts Port Marshal for Toms River. The marshal was an agent of the New Jersey Admiralty Court. He registered captured vessels as they came into port and impounded them until an admiralty court declared the capture a legal prize of the privateer captain. At that time, the marshal supervised an auction for the sale of the vessel. The next vessel taken, as discussed in two antiquarian sources, was another large brig, the Success . In March 1779, it grounded on shore near Toms River. The vessel was too large and heavily loaded to be floated. So, the local militia rowed out and captured the 22-man crew, who were sent to Trenton as prisoners. The vessel’s cargo of rum, molasses, cocoa, and coffee was then unloaded and rowed into port. An admiralty court upheld the seizure on April 7 and the battered vessel was auctioned on the beach on April 26. The auction led to another public notice regarding dividing the proceeds of the sale: The people concerned in capturing the sloop Success are desired to meet at the house of Daniel Griggs at Toms River.... the 13th of May, to receive their proportion of moneys arising from the sale of the said sloop and cargo. All persons indebted for goods bought at above sale are requested to make immediate payment to Mr. Abiel Aiken of Toms River. Toms River as a Privateering Boomtown The privateering at Toms River and Egg Harbor created a boomtown economy in the formerly poor and small shore villages. Nationally prominent men like General Nathanael Greene invested in local privateers. Several local militia officers put to the sea in small vessels and took prizes. Major John Van Emburgh of New Brunswick took multiple trips to Toms River and Egg Harbor. In May 1779, he wrote that privateering created a new "busy season for the people on the shore.” He wryly observed that “the late captures have made them negligent of everything but dividing and determining their share of prizes." A year later, Van Emburgh was temporarily captured by a Loyalist boat off of Toms River. The New Jersey Gazette reported that in June, reports that "Major Van Emburgh of Bordentown, with eight or nine others, being at Toms River on a fishing party, were surprised while a-bed by a number of armed Tory Refugees and put on board a vessel for New York; but they found means to make their escape." A second source suggests that Van Emburgh escaped by bribing the Loyalists into releasing them. Toms River would remain dangerous—militia Lieutenant Joshua Studson was killed while patrolling the port in December 1780 and Pine Robbers menaced the village throughout 1781 and into 1782, when Loyalists razed the village and the vessels in port. The growth at Toms River was noticed by British leaders too. Captain Patrick Ferguson, who razed Egg Harbor and slaughtered nearby Continental troops in October 1778, discussed attacking Toms River in November 1779 as part of a proposed weeklong campaign against New Jersey. On Day 5 of his attack, British regulars would go “cattle collecting” through central New Jersey while Ferguson would lead cavalry and Loyalist refugees against "the piratical town of Barnegat, destroying the small craft, numerous salt works & proceeding along that very rebel coast to Toms River." The campaign never took place. Though Toms River was never as busy as Egg Harbor, at least fourteen additional captured vessels were brought in the capture of the Success in March 1779. The data below lists those vessels. It likely misses several captures of small Loyalist boats engaged in illegal trade—as most of these actions went undocumented. Date / Captured Ship / Taken By / Cargo May 2, 1779 Lively , sloop Boat led by John Cook Lumber August 22, 1779 Grower , sloop Privateer, Hero None August 29, 1779 Merchant vessel Privateer Susannah Unknown September 29. 1779 Hope Privateer, Pickering Unknown January 24, 1780 Besty (wrecked) Unknown Rum June 27, 1780 Restoration , schooner Privateer, Commerce Iron September 1780 (2) Catherine , sloop; John , schooner Boat led by Joshua Studson Unknown December 27, 1780 Dove , brig Boats led by Samuel Bigelow Rum January 25, 1781 Betsy , sloop Boat led by Samuel Bigelow Unknown January 25, 1781 Brunswick , sloop James Randolph Unknown May 19, 1781 General Greene , sloop Unknown Apparel, three slaves September 26, 1781 Nancy , schooner Richard Robins, Jr. Lumber, shingles Prizes brought into Toms River included vessels taken off Sandy Hook and brought into Toms River (because it was closer than Egg Harbor). However, Toms River more often received vessels that grounded on the New Jersey shoreline and were then taken by opportunistic local militia. Four Dover Township militia or township officers—John Cook, Samuel Bigelow, Joshua Studson, and James Randolph all took prizes. Toms River was also a convenient stopping point for boats from southern New Jersey’s privateer ports at Great Egg Harbor and Cape May. Before the war, Toms River was a small, poor village. It had only one religious meeting house—a multi-denominational building at Good Luck—north of the village. A Quaker missionary observed that locals were “loose libertine people.” The first significant wartime investment at Toms River—the grandiose Pennsylvania Salt Works —was an abject failure. The port of Toms River was too shallow for large ships and the port could only be approached by navigating the unmarked, tricky channels at Barnegat and Cranberry Inlet. Despite all of these disadvantages, at least 22 vessels were sold at Toms River during the war (and probably many more). In addition, various merchant vessels come into port with valuable cargoes from the West Indies. This led to dozens of auctions in which the previously poor people of the village gained considerable wealth by unloading, holding, and transporting ship cargoes. Additional money was brought into the village by dozens of investors, ship-buyers, and privateer captains who stayed several days at a time in the formerly sleepy village. By the end of the war, Toms River was a booming small port. Local leaders had the funds necessary to construct a fort (the “Blockhouse”) to protect the village, and the state of New Jersey funded a company of State Troops to protect it starting 1781. Success came with a price. A vengeful Loyalist raiding party attacked and burned Toms River to the ground on March 24, 1782. Related Historic Site : Joshua Huddy Park Sources : Philemon Dickinson to George Washington, Philemon Dickinson to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 15, May–June 1778, ed. Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 2006, pp. 371–372; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 39; Heston, Alfred M. South Jersey, A History, 1664-1924 (New York: Lewis Historical Co., 1924) p 225; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 80-84; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 3, p 70; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 194-202; Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 39; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 194-202; John Van Emburgh quoted in Leonard Lundin, Cockpit of the Revolution the War for Independence in New Jersey (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950) pp. 404-5; Patrick Ferguson to Henry Clinton, Clements Library, U Michigan, Henry Clinton Papers, November 15, 1779; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 194-202; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 63-4; William MacMahon, South Jersey Towns (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1973) p 308; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, N.J.: E. Gardner and Son, 1890) pp. 119-120; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 64-5; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 194-202; Heston, Alfred M., South Jersey, A History, 1664-1924. New York: Lewis Historical Co., 1924) p 226; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, June 7, 1780, reel 1930; New Jersey Gazette, January 24, 1780; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, p 147; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 74; William Nelson, Austin Scott, et al., ed., New Jersey Archives (Newark, Somerville, and Trenton, NJ: 1901-1917) vol. 4, p 372; Toms River discussed in Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 41-2; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) p 226; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 194-202; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; John Griffith, Journal of the Life, Travel and Labors in the Work of Ministry of John Griffith (London: James Phillips, 1779) p 388-9. 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 > William Marriner's Second Brooklyn Raid and Later Career by Michael Adelberg Daring privateer William Marriner captured Simon and Jacques Courtylou at Simon’s house in New Utrecht, Brooklyn. Marriner remained an active privateer for two more years after this capture. - November 1778 - In June 1778, William Marriner co-led a remarkable raid against Brooklyn. He and militia captain John Schenck led two boats that left Middletown Point (Matawan), rowed through the night, landed in Brooklyn, captured Loyalist prisoners, and returned to Middletown Point without the loss of a man. One observer called it “perhaps the most extraordinary circumstance which ever took place.” To New Jerseyans living along the Raritan Bayshore who had been victimized by Loyalist raids, Marriner was a hero. Two months later, Marriner and his business partner, Henry Remsen, received a Letter of Marque (more or less, a privateer license ) from the State of New Jersey. On August 18, the state licensed Marriner to attack and capture enemy ships in the sloop Enterprise , with 15 crew and an unstated number of “carriage guns” (very small cannon). But there is no record of Marriner immediately capturing enemy vessels. Marriner’s Later Actions On November 3, Marriner again raided Brooklyn. According to a report published in the New Jersey Gazette and Pennsylvania Evening Post , Marriner went to Brooklyn with a small raiding party that included seven Continental soldiers. He "landed at New Utrecht [Brooklyn] and brought off Simon [Simon Courtylou] and Jacques Courtylou, two famous Tories, and in specie and property to the amount of 5000 dollars." The prisoners were brought to New Brunswick. A Loyalist newspaper suggested that the Courtylou brothers were targeted because they had been "uncivil to some Whigs who were prisoners." A few weeks later, Marriner apparently attempted another raid. Courtland Skinner, the general commanding the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers wrote from Staten Island on December 4: "Marriner, who took Mr. Bache, is out on another escapade." The details of this action are unknown. With winter coming and prize money in his pocket, Marriner apparently purchased an inn near New Brunswick. He hosted an auction of Loyalist property there in February 1779. Marriner was inactive well into 1779. In July, however, rumors of him putting to sea began again. The Loyalist New York Gazette reported that "William Marriner, late a cordwainer & oyster fryer of this city" was expected to attack Staten Island or Brooklyn. Citizens were warned to be alert. It was noted Marriner was spotted in sixteen-foot boats “between Sandy Hook and the Narrows." Just two weeks later, the British issued a new rule that small boats nearing New York must first obtain a pass from "the commanding officer at an Out-Post" (of which there were six including Sandy Hook). It is possible that this regulation was calculated to curtail the stealthy Marriner from going to New York undetected. One of Marriner’s men, Benjamin Coddington of Middlesex County, recalled a successful privateer action that August. Coddington exaggerated some of the details, but described Marriner taking two vessels: In August 1779, I volunteered under Capt. Marraner [Marriner] to go privateering on an expedition which took two months; during my term under Capt Marraner we took a privateer brig belonging to the British carrying 16 guns & 24 swivels on her …. We took the brig by surprise in the night while the crew was asleep after we captured the brig and got her underway and went about ten miles. We run foul of a schooner with 60 to 70 refugees going to join the enemy, Capt Marraner and crew had nothing more than our gun boat; these two vessels was captured off Sandy Hook near the light house, we took the brig & schooner and about one hundred prisoners into Egg Harbour. Marriner took two more prizes six months later, in April 1780. The New Jersey Gazette reported: The privateer Black Snake was captured by the British, but Capt. [William] Marriner, with nine men, retook her. Capt. Marriner then took to sea in his prize, and captured the Morning Star, of 6 swivels and 33 men, after a sharp resistance, in which he lost three killed and five wounded; he carried both prizes into Egg Harbor. The prize vessels were sold at auction on May 16. Historian Richard Koke wrote that in July 1780 Marriner and Captain Thomas Clark of Middlesex County co-led a raid on Jamaica Bay. There, they were captured by the local Loyalist militia. Joseph Vanderveer of Middletown was with Marriner on this raid: I volunteered in a gunboat under Capt. William Marriner (in company of Capt. Alexander Dickey who commanded another boat) and was taken prisoner by the British on the fifth of August, and taken to N. York where I was confined until the latter part of December, when I was exchanged. Marriner was detained several months longer than Vanderveer before he was exchanged. He was paroled in early 1781, but did not return to New Jersey until October 1781. A celebration was held on his return to New Brunswick. He was not active after that. Marriner’s legacy would be continued by one of his men, Alexander Dickey, who took prizes in the Raritan Bay in 1782. And Marriner’s exploits were ultimately eclipsed by the dramatic exploits of Adam Hyler, who made numerous successful assaults on British shipping in Raritan and New York bays in 1781 and 1782. Related Historic Site : American War of Independence Privateer Museum (in progress) Sources : Privateer Bond, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 415-6; Richard J. Koke, "War, Profits, and Privateers Along the Jersey Coast," New York Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 41, 1957, p 295; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post, November 20, 1778; Courtland Skinner to Henry Clinton, William Clements Library, Henry Clinton Papers, vol. 47; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; New Jersey Gazette report in Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p 79; Alfred Heston, South Jersey: A History 1664-1923 (Lewis Historical Publishing, 1923) p 226; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Joseph Vanderveer; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, p 358-9, 385; Richard J. Koke, "War, Profits, and Privateers Along the Jersey Coast," New York Historical Society Quarterly, vol. 41, 1957, p 295-6 note 30; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of Benjamin Coddington of Maryland, National Archives, p19. 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 > Grain Seizure Splits Whig Leadership by Michael Adelberg General Nathanael Greene was in charge of raising provisions for the Continental Army in 1779 when the improper seizure of hay from Benjamin Van Cleaf of Middletown was escalated to him. - January 1779 - As discussed in prior articles, raising forage and provisions from the fertile farms of Monmouth County was a high priority for the Continental Army. It appointed two officers, David Rhea and John Lloyd to purchase supplies in the county. But not all farmers wanted to sell their goods to Rhea and Lloyd. Some were secretly trading with Loyalist middlemen (called “London Traders ”) who brought their goods to the British. Other farmers were simply interested in holding onto their goods in order to get a higher price later on. The treatment of one of these farmers was escalated to senior Army generals and New Jersey’s governor. It caused a rift in the county’s leadership. The Benjamin Van Cleaf Affair Benjamin Van Cleaf was a comfortable Middletown farmer from an extended family that solidly supported the Revolution and included both militia and local government officers. Van Cleaf was a militia lieutenant who signed a number of pro-Revolutionary petitions and served on grand juries. In January 1779, Peter Forman, the magistrate from neighboring Freehold Township, came to Van Cleaf’s house and ordered his grain to be impounded for the use of the Army. Van Cleaf was compensated at the Army’s standard rate. General Nathanael Greene was made aware of the controversial seizure. He noted: “This Van Cleaf has had rye in stacks upwards of two years. He has frequently refused to sell it, cloaking his real intentions with the very charitable purpose of reserving it for the poor." Greene was implying that Van Cleaf was participating in the London Trade, though there is no evidence of that in surviving documents. According to Greene’s letter, Forman had initially sent Captain Knight [Richard McKnight] to buy the rye, but Van Cleaf refused, claiming he was keeping it for poor relief. Forman then went to Van Cleaf with a party of teamsters, and, under threat of arrest, forced Van Cleaf to sell his rye. Forman appears to have exceeded his authority in two ways: First, he left his own township to impound the goods of a farmer living in another township; second, magistrates were permitted to impound goods from those disaffected from the Revolution or materials likely to fall into enemy hands; there is no evidence that Van Cleaf was disaffected or that his rye was in danger. Aggrieved, Van Cleaf went to the Middletown magistrate, Peter Schenck, who appeared with his own party and ordered the wagons with Van Cleaf’s rye to be unloaded. On February 4, Schenck wrote Forman: “How could you assume such authority as to supersede my precepts?... Neither the Chief Justice nor Governor Livingston would have presumed to supersede any magistrate without giving him a hearing." Schenck wrote that Forman has "scoffed... at giving him [Van Cleaf] an opportunity in his own defence.” Schenck further stated: Your conduct I cannot but resent, and resent accordingly. I know not how you should impress the grain after it was made known it was sold for the use of the inhabitants - the legislature reposing confidence in Magistrates as the guardians of the people - gave them authority to impress produce from disaffected persons, but not to take it from the people who would dispose of their produce for the use of the poor... families are dependent on their bread on Mr. Van Cleave, out of the grain you have undertook to seize. Schenck concluded by insulting Forman with a striking comparison—suggesting that Forman’s actions were even worse than the crimes of the hated Pine Robbers , Jacob Fagan and Thomas Emmons (a.k.a. Burke): “Fagan and Burke, when they robbed, had regard for the poor, they only took out of abundance from those they robbed, but you have endeavored to arrest the bread from the poor." Schenck’s letter was forwarded to Gen. Greene and the Continental Congress with documents showing the market price of a bushel of rye or corn to be $10, but the Continental Quartermaster paying only $4 and $6 a bushel respectively. With the controversy brewing, the Quartermaster purchasing agent from Monmouth County, David Rhea, wrote a Continental officer, Clement Biddle, on February 12: “The country are all in arms about grain prices; send no more wagons here." Rhea informed Biddle that he sent Captain McKnight and Forman to Van Cleaf to purchase the rye: I sent a Magistrate [Forman] with the forage purchase who ordered the brigade [wagon team] to be loaded - paid for the same by taking the receipts without opposition; as soon as they were gone the owner applied to another Magistrate [Schenck] who drove off McKnight with his brigade, nor would he suffer them to take any [of the rye]. Rhea suggested that he would seek to right the situation by gaining Schenck’s support. He apologized for the controversy that he had inadvertently begun: "I am extremely sorry to trouble you about this affair - this much I must say, it is a damnation country to do business with." The Van Cleaf controversy prompted General Greene to write Governor William Livingston on February 14. Greene sided with Rhea and Forman: "I have enclosed for your Excellency's information copies of several papers… respecting the wickedness and villainy of some Magistrates in Monmouth County.” Greene argued that “the great difference in the price offered by the public purchasers and the private engrossers” was the root cause of the problem. He suggested: It appears to me a plan concerted with a design either to save the grain in the county or procure for the inhabitants an extravagant price for it. That we are reduced to the necessity to impress the grain by the aid of Magistrates is notorious. Greene was, in effect, admitting that because of the low price paid by the Continental Army, the Army had to rely on magistrates to take goods from otherwise dutiful citizen farmers at below-market prices. Livingston responded to Greene three days later. He suggested that some of Monmouth County’s office holders were not sufficiently patriotic and even in league with London Traders. "Some of them have rendered themselves culpable. While some are remiss at assisting the Army... others have been oppressive in granting warrants for wood cutting without summoning the owner to try his disaffection, or any proof of his refusal." Monmouth County’s disaffected officeholders is the subject of another article. However, Schenck’s intervention on behalf of Van Cleaf was never reversed. Perspective In isolation, the seizure of Van Cleaf’s rye was a small incident in which a local official exceeded his authority by going into a neighboring township to seize goods for the benefit of the Army. The seizure was reversed by the magistrate with appropriate jurisdiction. Continental and state leadership empowered local agents to act aggressively in raising forage for the Army but acquiesced to the rule of law when one of their agents exceeded his authority. More broadly, the bitter words between the magistrates exposed a growing rift in Monmouth County’s leadership. On one side of the split were “Machiavellian” Whigs (mostly from Freehold and Upper Freehold townships) who took unlawful actions in the interest of better prosecuting the Revolution; other the side, were “Due Process” Whigs (mostly from the Middletown and the Shore Townships) who supported the Revolution, but not at the expense of the rule of law. While this split was evident intermittently before the Van Cleaf controversy (such as the overturned county election of 1777), the Van Cleaf controversy re-aggravated the split and set in motion a string of events that substantially worsened it. Another property seizure by a Captain John Walton of Freehold against a Middletown citizen, Solomon Ketchum, three months later would lead to landmark litigation and further widen the split inside Monmouth County. The split would climax with leaders from the two sides coming to blows at the 1780 county election and splitting into rival associations after that. Related Historic Site : Howell Living History Farm Sources: Nathanael Greene, The Papers of General Nathanael Greene (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press, 1976) vol. 3, pp. 247-8; Peter Schenck to Peter Forman, Papers of the Continental Congress, Letter of Nathanael Greene, vol. 3, p43-4; David Rhea to Clement Biddle, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I173, Letters from Nathanael Greene, v3, p37; Nathanael Greene to William Livingston, Nathanael Greene, The Papers of General Nathanael Greene (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press, 1976) vol. 3, pp. 247-8; William Livingston to Nathanael Greene, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 35-6; Michael S. Adelberg, “The Transformation of Local Governance in Monmouth County, New Jersey during the War of the American Revolution,” Journal of the Early Republic , 2011. 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 > British Army Marches Through Middletown to Navesink Highlands by Michael Adelberg This British Army map of northeast Monmouth County shows Middletown as the midpoint between hostile inland villages like Colts Neck (called “Jewstown”) and safety at Sandy Hook. - June 1778 - As discussed in prior articles, following the Battle of Monmouth (June 28, 1778), the British Army marched east through Middletown on its way to Sandy Hook. It would take the British Army a week to travel only 25 miles. Despite wanting to leave New Jersey, the British commander, General Henry Clinton moved his troops slowly from Middletown. He wrote of waiting there two days "in hopes that Mr. Washington [George Washington] might have tempted to advance to a position near Middletown." Dr. John Campbell of the British Army was more explicit: The army marched without farther opposition, where they waited two days, in hopes that General Washington might be induced to take post near Middletown, where he might have been attacked to [our] advantage. Washington, however, had consulted with Monmouth County leaders , and understanding the inferior ground he would possess, chose not to pursue the British. He sent only a small force led by Colonel Daniel Morgan, accompanied by Monmouth militia , to shadow the British. The British baggage train, with a sizable guard, left Freehold for Middletown even before the Battle of Monmouth began. It was attacked twice on June 28, but the heat was the greater enemy that day. A German Quartermaster officer wrote, "The heat was so enormous today that almost the whole regiment was sick… Many men fainted during the day and some died on the spot." The baggage train stopped at Nut Swamp that evening, three miles from Middletown. The main body of the British Army, after fighting the Battle of Monmouth, rested until midnight and then left Freehold for Middletown. A German Officer Heinrich von Feilitsch wrote, "Our column marched all night… at five o'clock in the morning we halted three miles from Middletown." The British Army entered Middletown in the morning of June 29. John Peebles, a British Officer, described Middletown: "This little village surrounded with hills is about 2 or three miles from Raritan Bay, and about 12 miles from the Light House." The British Camp at Middletown General Clinton established his headquarters at the house of John Taylor, the town’s largest home. Taylor had led a Loyalist insurrection in the township in 1776. The British took most of Taylor’s livestock while in Middletown, but compensated him for the taken animals. According to militiaman Albert Vanderveer, Clinton also “issued a proclamation offering protection to all inhabitants who would not take up arms against them.” At least one family took the opportunity to leave with the British. Israel Bedell’s family left Middletown with the British and settled on Staten Island afterward. The British stay in Middletown did not include the arsons that marred its stay at Freehold. However, there were several incidents. John Truax, a militiaman, recalled that on June 30 "he was robbed when the Army passed through the Country." John Tilton recalled that his family’s Bible was "destroyed by the British in their retreat through Middletown in June 1778." For many middling farm families, the family Bible was the only book they owned and many families recorded births and deaths in it. So, the destruction of the family Bible was an act of cruelty. Antiquarian sources also discuss the looting of two Middletown homes by German soldiers. General William Knyphausen commandeered the homes of Richard Crawford and James Paterson for his senior officers. Both homes were looted of their silver. Women camp followers further reportedly plundered Mrs. Crawford of all her clothes. When the Germans left Middletown, a party of stragglers remained behind at Crawford's and was reportedly surprised by a party of mounted Continentals. The Americans recovered some of the lost goods and killed a local Loyalist guide named Hankinson. Knyphausen also reportedly took Paterson’s seven horses and forced him to accompany the Germans as a guide for two days, before releasing him with one of his horses. Paterson's amiable release led to his arrest for treason (he was found not guilty). The Germans also reportedly burned a barn known as “the Old Fort” because it was a militia meeting place. Middletown’s Baptist congregation , which had purged its Loyalist members a year earlier, was also targeted. Minister Abel Morgan held Sunday service on June 28 with cannon fire from the Battle of Monmouth audible in the distance. However, on July 5, he recorded: “There was no meeting on this Lord's day because of the enemy's passing thro' our town the week past, putting all in confusion by their plundering and ravaging as they went." He did not preach again until July 19—and then he preached in a barn "because the enemy had took all the seats in the meeting house." Morgan did not preach again in the meeting house until August 30. Three Loyalist officers were court martialed for actions taken after the Battle of Monmouth. Lt. Boswell of the Maryland Loyalists was tried for horse theft. He reportedly “took two horses, property of the inhabitants of the Jerseys… contrary to the General order issued by General Sir Henry Clinton against plundering and marauding." Captain Martin McEvoy of the Roman Catholic Volunteers "behaved in an ungentlemanlike manner, plundering in the Jerseys in taking a horse and a cow, and behaving indecently in parade"—or at least he was accused as such. Captain John McKinnon, also of the Roman Catholic Volunteers, was tried for ungentlemanlike behavior, including "plundering in the Jerseys." McKinnon was found guilty and cashiered from service. A few additional incidents occurred as British forces moved east from Middletown. According to an antiquarian source, Rebecca Dennis, the wife of militia Captain Benjamin Dennis, was struck by a German soldier with his gunstock. Noah Clayton of the Shrewsbury militia recalled being captured by British regulars: “I went to S'berrytown and [was] taken prisoner by the 42nd Regiment of Highlanders, from thence I was taken to New York, where I remained for better than two years." An antiquarian source suggests June 30 was the start of the infamous Pine Robber career of Lewis Fenton (he deserted from the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers just a few days earlier). Fenton reportedly went to the farm of the Cooper family two miles south of Freehold and demanded food from Mrs. Cooper and her two daughters. However, before Fenton could carry away the food, he was chased off by five German deserters who unwittingly came onto the scene. The Germans took the food and Fenton went into hiding. He assembled a small band in Tinker Swamp near Manasquan that soon robbed widow Harris and her tavern—starting his outlaw career. British Army Moves toward Sandy Hook Irrespective of the disorders, the British continued to occupy Middletown and parts of the army spread east to the Navesink Highlands. A German officer, Jacob Piel recorded that on June 30 "camped in the woods near the Shrewsbury River" and then the Navesink Highlands on July 1. Near there, a meeting occurred between General Clinton and officers of the Royal Navy. Captain Henry Duncan of the Royal Navy wrote of the July 1 meeting: "Anchored outside Sandy Hook, Sir H. Clinton arrived near there and sent off an express requesting to see me as soon as possible… we met Sir Henry at the Neversink." According to Colonel Thomas O’Bierne, who attended the meeting, the officers discussed the arrival of the French fleet off Cape May. As a result, "the utmost expedition was now requisite to take off the troops, that… they might be placed in safety [in New York]." Clinton would no longer dither at Middletown hoping to tempt Washington into attacking. Clinton now moved the entire army toward Sandy Hook. General James Pattison wrote that "we gained the heights of the Neversink" on the evening of July 1. According to antiquarian sources, Henry Clinton used the houses of James Stillwell and Richard Hartshorne as his temporary headquarters while camped on the Highlands. Hartshorne’s house may have been the headquarters of the Monmouth militia a year and a half earlier when it was routed by British regulars at the Battle of the Navesink . The British did not feel threatened by Colonel Daniel Morgan’s regiment and the Monmouth militia that shadowed them. German Capt. [?] Hiendrich wrote that the camp was “naturally secure.” Von Feilitsch, at Middletown on July 1, wrote that "the enemy patrol approached but did not make contact." British Army Officer, Andrew Bell, wrote on July 1 that there was "no firing of any consequence since the action on Sunday." On July 2, O’Beirne wrote: "the enemy did not dare pass the heights of Middletown" and that the British now camped on the Navesink "without molestation." That same day, Captain Hiendrich wrote that his men “lay completely quiet” at Middletown. However, two other British Army officers noted skirmishing at Middletown as the British began to withdraw. On July 1, Peebles wrote that the enemy was “expected” and that skirmishers “are still hovering about us, showing themselves in different places in our front & right, [taking] some popping shots." Johann Ewald, a German officer recalled being in a more considerable engagement at Middletown on July 1: Today a strong enemy corps appeared here from Middletown. A sharp engagement between the Jaegers and the enemy riflemen, in which three Jaegers were killed and five wounded. Toward evening, the enemy withdrew. Skirmishing, it appears, is in the eye of the beholder. For those not engaged, it was easy to dismiss skirmishing as minor. But when directly engaged, skirmishing could be a “sharp engagement.” Ewald further reported a second engagement on July 2, "although the patrol was cautious, it was attacked unexpectedly by the enemy, and one Jaeger was killed and two captured." By July 3, Henry Clinton had moved the entire army to the Navesink Highlands and the British began moving their baggage onto Sandy Hook—the move would be completed with considerable help from the navy on July 5. The Monmouth Campaign had caused the British Army considerable losses—300 battlefield dead, several hundred desertions, and several dozen more deaths along the line of march from heat and skirmishing. After nearly three weeks of marching, fighting, and enduring many hassles and privations, the soldiers were truly safe again. Related Historic Site : Historic Portland Place Sources : Henry Clinton’s letter printed in New York Journal as printed in Frank Moore, Diary of the American Revolution (New York: Charles Scribner, 1865) v2, p68-9; Abel Morgan’s sermons in Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), pp. 522-3; Stephen Jarvis, An American's Experience in the British Army, Journal of American History, v1, n3, 1907, p452. New York Historical Society, MSS Microfilms, reel 17, Stephen Jarvis Autobiography, p 30; John Campbell, Biographica Nautica, Memoirs of an Illustrious Seaman () p 482; William Stryker, The Battle of Monmouth (Princeton: Princeton UP, 1927) p 232; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Truax; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Tilton; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v5, 50-9; Correspondence from Don N. Hagist, British Court Martials; Great Britain, Public Record Office, War Office, Class 71, Volume 87, pages 179-181; Samuel Smith, The Hessian View of America, (Monmouth Beach, N.J.: Philip Freneau Press, 1975) p 20; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p199; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Noah Clayton; John C. Paterson, The Pine Robbers of Monmouth County, unpublished manuscript in the collection of the Monmouth County Historical Association, 1834, p 1-2; Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 534; Journal of Daniel Youngs, Brooklyn Historical Society, New York State-New York City, 1778-1788, coll. 1974.002; Abel Morgan’s sermons in Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), pp. 522-3; Henry Clinton to Richard Howe, Clements Library, U Michigan, Henry Clinton Papers, 6/29/78 & 7/1/78 & 7/3/78; David Library of the American Revolution, James Pattison Papers, reel 1; Mary Hyde, Retreat after the Battle of Monmouth, Spirit of '76, vol. 5, 1899, p253; John Parke’s Account in Pennsylvania Archives, Pennsylvania Historic & Museum Commission, reel 14, frame 0338; Stephen Moylan to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 50, June 29, 1778; John Peebles, John Peebles' American War, p221-8; John Knox Laughton, "Journal of Capt. Henry Duncan" in Publications of the Naval Records Society, vol. 20, 1920, p169-70; Thomas Lewis O'Beirne, A Candid and Impartial Narrative of the Transactions of the Fleet, Under the Command of Lord Howe (London, 1969), pp. 8-9; Francis Downman, The Services of Lieut. Colonel Francis Downman (London: Royal Artillery Institution, 1898) p64-72; Bell, Andrew, "Copy of a journal by Andrew Bell, Esq., at One Time the Confidential Secretary of General Sir Henry Clinton. Kept during the March of the British Army through New-jersey in 1778.” Proceedings of the New jersey Historical Society, vol 6, 1851, p18; Bruce Burgoyne, Journal of the Hesse Cassel Jaeger Corps (New York: Heritage Books, 1987) p43-7; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Albert Vanderveer; Johann Ewald, Diary of the American War: A Hessian Journal (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1979) pp. 136-7; Mary Hyde, Retreat after the Battle of Monmouth, Spirit of '76, vol. 5, 1899, p254-5Bruce Burgoyne, Diaries of Two Ansbach Jaegers (NY: Heritage Books, 1997) p42-3; Jared Sparks, Correspondence of the American Revolution: Being Letters of Eminent Men (Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1853) pp. 152-3; Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 261. 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 Mission to Disable the Sandy Hook Lighthouse by Michael Adelberg Maj. William Malcolm of New York was dispatched to Monmouth County to disable the Sandy Hook Lighthouse. He was accompanied by Col. George Taylor of Middletown. - March 1776 - In early 1776, American leaders learned that the British were preparing to invade New York. The lighthouse at Sandy Hook, including its keeper, Adam Dobbs, and its pilot, William Dobbs (brothers), played important roles in guiding British ships into New York Harbor. They had already stopped at least one British ship from reaching New York. While the Sandy Hook lighthouse was a great source of pride for Americans, sober leaders understood that it now had to be disabled. On March 4, the New York Provincial Congress dispatched Major William Malcolm to New Jersey to disable the lighthouse. His orders read: You will endeavor to take the glass out of the lantern, and save it if possible; but if you find it impracticable, you will break the glass. You will endeavor to pump the oil out of the cisterns into the casks and bring it off; if you should be obstructed in your task by the enemy, you will pump it on the ground. In short, you will use your best discretion to render the Light House entirely useless. Malcolm landed at Middletown on March 6 and met with Middletown’s Committee of Observation. He was soon joined by Colonel George Taylor, the township’s senior militia officer. Malcolm and Taylor reached the light house on March 10 and acted. On March 12, the New York Provincial Congress reported to George Washington about the Malcolm-Taylor mission: Major Malcolm, who was sent to dismantle the Light-House, he was returned and had executed the matter effectively, with the assistance of Col. George Taylor and some of his men; that Maj. Malcolm found it impossible to take out and save the glass, for want of tools and by reason of the time necessary for that purpose, and was therefore obliged to break it; that Major Malcolm had delivered the lamps and oil, two tackle falls and blocks, removed from the Light House, to Col. George Taylor and taken receipt of the same. A week later, the New York Provincial Congress asked Taylor to deliver the oil to Malcolm, which was presumably done. But Taylor remained in possession of the hardware taken from the lighthouse. Curiously, no surviving document about this action mentions Sandy Hook’s resident pilot, William Dobbs, his brother and lighthouse keeper, Adam Dobbs, their servant, or the boats at Sandy Hook maintained to row out to ocean-going vessels in need of his guidance. At first blush, the Malcolm-Taylor expedition achieved its objective without any difficulties. But, based on future events, the expedition can only be regarded as a failure. While they had the chance to truly cripple the lighthouse, Malcolm and Taylor only removed a handful of replaceable parts and supplies, and they apparently did nothing to the pilot house, outbuildings, or boats that were all necessary to stationing men on Sandy Hook. Perhaps the timidness was because the Americans envisioned using Sandy Hook for their own purposes soon again or perhaps they were reluctant to destroy American property. Either way, the Malcolm-Taylor mission was not sufficiently destructive. Only one month later, the British Navy landed on Sandy Hook and occupied it for the rest of the war—the British would hold Sandy Hook into 1784, longer than any other piece of the rebelling Thirteen Colonies. The light house remained unusable at least through the end of April. The British constructed a beacon 1,000 yards from the lighthouse and burned fires nightly until the light house was repaired. A naval officer at Sandy Hook wrote on April 29 that "the lantern was totally destroyed by the Rebels on the 10th of March, which rendered the Light House useless to navigation." The lighthouse was in reasonable repair by the time the British invasion fleet arrived at the end of June. An attempt to drive the British from Sandy Hook failed . George Taylor, who would turn Loyalist toward the end of 1776, returned the taken hardware to Sandy Hook later that year. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : Anonymous, "Sandy Hook Light-House," American Historical Record, vol. 3, 1874, p 510-1; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 4, pp. 194-5; William James Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1969) vol. 4, pp. 307-8; Lopez, John. “Sandy Hook Lighthouse.” The Keeper's Log, Winter, 1986, p 5; Peter Force, American Archives, v6: 1416. 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's Slaves Seek Freedom Behind British Lines by Michael Adelberg In 1775, Virginia’s Royal Governor, Lord Dunmore, issued a proclamation promising freedom to the slaves of rebels who joined the British Army. British generals would issue similar promises. - July 1776 - The landing of the British Army at Sandy Hook (June 30) and Staten Island (July 7) created a powerful magnet for Loyalists and others in unhappy situations in New Jersey and New York. As discussed in a prior article, Monmouth County’s African American population knew of British proclamations promising freedom to the slaves of rebels who would join the British Army. Many African Americans became restive or militant. With the British strong and near, joining them was, no doubt, alluring to many of Monmouth County’s slaves. On July 23, Daniel Hendrickson of Tinton Falls, who replaced Samuel Breese as the colonel of Shrewsbury Township’s militia, reported to the New Jersey Convention that "Negro slaves have run off and were on board the enemy's fleet.” He requested and received permission to go the British fleet and negotiate for their return. As discussed in a prior article, two of the slaves in question were regarded as the property of William Kipping and John Corlies. The British returned the runaways to their bondsmen. But it is likely that Hendrickson was referring to more than just these two slaves in his request to the Convention. The result of Hendrickson’s visit to the British is unknown. So, if Hendrickson brought back only two slaves, many others may have earned their freedom. In prior work, the author compiled a table of Monmouth County slaves who sought refuge behind British lines during the American Revolution. A condensed version of this information is as follows by year and # of escaped slaves: 1776 - Five 1777 - Six 1778 - Eight 1779 - Five 1780 - Three 1781- Four 1782 - Six Year Unknown - Three Importantly, this information demonstrates that Monmouth County slaves took refuge behind British lines every year of the war. While adult men were the majority of runaways, women and entire families escaped behind British lines as well. 28 of the 40 documented escaped slaves were from Shrewsbury and Middletown townships, the townships proximate to Sandy Hook. Because of incomplete documentation, the table above surely undercounts the full number of escaped slaves. Slaves demonstrated an understanding of the tumultuous politics of this period. As the British and Loyalists swept into New Jersey during the toward the end of 1776, slaves came to the Loyalist Commissioners appointed by the British; these men were empowered to free slaves if the slave took a Loyalty oath and demonstrated the disloyalty of his or her bondsman. John Pope testified that on December 13, 1776, he spoke with one of those commissioners, John Lawrence, about this: I mentioned to Mr. Lawrence that the Negroes were getting information against their masters in order to have them taken into custody and to have themselves freed thereby - Mr. Lawrence replied that it was an infamous practice and most discountenanced. Regardless of Lawrence’s sentiment, slaves were indeed freed during this time period. One of these recently freed slaves, a man named Sip, participated in the December Loyalist uprising known as the “Tory Ascendancy ”. In May 1777, Abraham Lane testified: The fore part of January last, this deponent was at the house of Thomas Lockerson [Thomas Okerson] and saw Sip, a negro man, the property of Peter Parker, when the said negro said he supposed that the damned rebels would soon be after him, but if they did, he would take shot amongst them... Sip at this time had a gun with him, that he got from Peter Wardell, a Tory refugee. At least two other runaway slaves (and probably more) participated in the Loyalist uprising. In May 1777, Captain John Dennis of Shrewsbury petitioned the New Jersey Council of Safety for the release of two African Americans, Joe and Scipio, who were formerly slaves of Peter Parker and John Slocum. According to a letter from Governor William Livingston they were “among a number of other prisoners hurried to jail in Philadelphia” immediately after the collapse of the Loyalist uprising. Dennis claimed: [Joe and Scipio] were sometime last February taken prisoner by the Memorialist on suspicion of having been in arms & aiding the Enemy, & afterwards sent to Philadelphia where they have been confined since... The masters of sd Negroes are desirous of having the matter heard and have prevailed upon your memorialist to lay a state of the charge before your Board, which he is ready to do, whenever the Board shall be pleased to hear him. Dennis, Slocum and Parker appeared before the New Jersey Council of Safety on May 22. Parker and Slocum agreed to compensate the State of New Jersey for the expenses of holding the slaves and posting bonds for their future good behavior. While the future “good behavior” of Joe and Scipio is unknown, it is known that dozens of Monmouth County ultimately achieved freedom by going behind British lines. By 1780, many were participating in an unofficial partisan organization known as “the Black Brigade.” The raids of the Black Brigade against the militia and leaders of eastern Monmouth County were among the more effective and punishing of the war. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : 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; 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; Michael Adelberg, The American Revolution in Monmouth County (History Press: Charleston, SC, 2010) p83; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #41; NJ Council of Safety, New Jersey State Archives, box 2; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 43, 52. New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 4, May 12, 1777; William Livingston to Richard Bache, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 338; Willam Livingston to PA Board of War, in Samuel Hazard, Pennsylvania Archives (Harrisburg: State of Pennsylvania, 1902) First Series, vol. 5, p 348. 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 > Loyalists Seek to Defend Waters Off Sandy Hook by Michael Adelberg Isaac Lowe, Chairing the New York City Chamber of Commerce, sought a vessel to protect the waters outside of Sandy Hook in spring 1781. Neither he, nor the British, found a vessel to do this job. - May 1781 - Early in the Revolutionary War, the British military easily turned aside any threats to their base and ships at Sandy Hook (which they captured in April 1776 ). Troops at the lighthouse, backed by a guardship(s) anchored nearby, easily dispersed land-based attacks in June 1776 and March 1777 . Fortifications constructed and troops deployed in July 1778 made Sandy Hook impervious to a landing by the marines in Admiral Charles Henri D’Estaing’s large French fleet . However, by 1779 the British presence at Sandy Hook was dramatically weaker. Early in the war, the guardship was never less than a frigate and was frequently more than one ship. In 1779, with the British navy now fighting a global war that sapped its strength in New York, the guardship was often a sloop of war (less than half the guns of a frigate). Cannon were taken from Sandy Hook’s shore battery, and troop size dwindled down to a single under-strength company of New Jersey Volunteers . Loyalist irregular raiding parties camped at Sandy Hook intermittently, but did not greatly increase the peninsula’s security. A collection of rebels successfully attacked Sandy Hook—including Captain John Burrowes of Middletown Point and Captain John Rudolph of Henry Lee’s Continental Army dragoons . A company of Loyalists was captured by a privateer on its way to Sandy Hook. On the ocean side of Sandy Hook, New England privateers took dozens of vessels coming in and out of New York. On the Raritan Bay side, local privateers such as William Marriner launched at least a dozen successful attacks against Loyalist vessels “London Trading ” between New Jersey and New York. The large merchant ship, Britannia , and sloop of war, Alert , were taken in separate incidents. Better Protecting Ships Near Sandy Hook Loyalists were exasperated. In March 1781, the Board of Associated Loyalists , a British-tolerated paramilitary group, sought an armed boat to protect the waters around Sandy Hook without success on March 13 and March 20. Details on their attempts to gain a vessel are not revealed. The Associated Loyalists would continue trying to purchase vessels for the next six months before finally succeeding in doing so in September. Isaac Lowe, chairing the New York City Chamber of Commerce, also believed an armed boat was needed to better protect London trading vessels coming into Sandy Hook and fishing vessels off Shrewsbury Inlet (at present-day Sea Bright). On May 1, the Chamber wrote Marriott Arbuthnot, the admiral commanding the British navy in New York: The best cruising ground for the enemy, perhaps in the whole world, is within sight of Sandy Hook… many stout privateers are fitting out in different rebel ports, and that unless effectual measures may be taken to defeat and blast their designs, very few vessels, except of great force, will get safe in or out of this port. The Chamber called for: A couple of last-failing frigates constantly to cruise between Delaware and Block island, and making the lighthouse at Sandy Hook once or twice a week, as the winds might permit, would effectually protect the trade at this port from all invaders. Arbuthnot responded two days later: I have just received the letter you have honored me with, pointing out the necessity of frigates being constantly employed in cruising off Sandy Hook, for the protection of the trade bound to this place, as well as for protecting the fishery upon the banks of Shrewsbury, and to prevent the rebel privateers from making such near approaches to this port as they have lately done, to which they are reported to have met with too much success. The admiral further wrote that British "frigates have not only been cruising almost constantly off the bar, but between Montauk point and the Delaware ...I have detached cruisers off this part of the coast.” Arbuthnot then discussed a prior offer to protect the Shrewsbury fishing banks: With respect to the protection of the fishermen employed on the banks of Shrewsbury, for supplying your market, I cannot help mentioning to you, that early after I took the command on this station, I purchased a vessel, mounting 12 carriage-guns; she was fitted out at a considerable expense; I requested that the city would man her, that I would pay the men, and that her services should never be diverted to any other purpose than giving such protection. My offer was received with a strong degree of coolness. Lowe did not reply for nearly a month. When he did, on May 28, he expressed ignorance regarding Arbuthnot’s prior offer of a boat to protect the fishing banks off Shrewsbury: With regard to your Excellency's request to the city, to man a vessel for the protection of the fishery on the banks of Shrewsbury, the Chamber of Commerce beg to assure your Excellency, that no application was ever made to this corporation upon that subject; or, in all probability, they had taken it up with the same zeal which they doubt not your Excellency will admit they manifested to procure volunteers for manning his Majesty's ships under your command. Lowe promised to man the gunboat if Arbuthnot would again make it available: If your Excellency will be so good as to furnish-a proper vessel, with provisions and ammunition, to protect the fishermen on the banks of Shrewsbury, for the benefit of this market, the Chamber of Commerce will cheerfully exert their endeavors and they doubt not they will be able, in a short time, not only to procure as many men as your Excellency may think sufficient for that purpose, but also raise funds for paying them provided that they shall be discharged as soon as the fishing season is over. It is unknown if Arbuthnot and Lowe ever put the discussed vessel to sea to protect the Shrewsbury shore. The Associated Loyalists nearly did so. On May 21, Daniel Coxe of the Associated Loyalists wrote: You will please to inform the Board that there is now fitting out at this place three large whaleboats in order to protect the trade to you by cruising along the Jersey Shores from Cape May to the Hook, they are now ready to go down. However, as noted above, it appears that these boats never put to sea (or may have put to sea and suffered quick capture rebel privateers). The Associated Loyalists, on July 20, had to again request a vessel from the British navy "to annoy the sea coast southward of Sandy Hook, and check the trade of the Delaware." Meanwhile, the most successful Loyalist whaleboat, the vessel Trimmer , neared the end of its career. According to newspaper accounts in the Loyalist New York Gazette and the New Jersey Gazette , the Trimmer captured a New Jersey galley, Bulldog , and two small sloops on April 21, which it brought into Sandy Hook. This added to its impressive list of captures: "these three makes nine prizes brought into here by the Trimmer in the last month, besides the number destroyed." However, the Trimmer soon met with disaster. On June 13, the New York Gazette , reported that the Trimmer , while returning back to New York, "was overset by means of a sudden gust of wind within sight of the Light House, by which melancholy incident 35 people drowned, the remainder of the crew taken up by some vessels near at hand." The newspaper further reported that “among the saved was Capt. Phillips, the vessel's master.” It appears that Phillips did not return to the dangerous work of privateering. Efforts to Better Protect Sandy Hook Fizzle For all of the letter-writing in spring 1781, there is no evidence that the British navy, the New York Chamber of Commerce, or the Associated Loyalists put a vessel to sea to protect the London Traders or fishermen of the Shrewsbury banks in spring 1781. Lowe again sought British protection for the Shrewsbury Banks fishermen in July 1782, writing the British Admiral: The trade and fishery [off Sandy Hook?] are unprotected, and requesting that some means be pursued to encourage the fishermen to take fish and supply this garrison, and that its commerce may not be annoyed by the privateers and whale-boats that infest even the Narrows. New England privateers continued to prowl the approaches to Sandy Hook and small New Jersey privateers, including the bold Adam Hyler, continued to pluck small vessels off Sandy Hook. The Associated Loyalist vessels (the sloops Colonel Martin and Association , and the brig Sir Henry Clinton ) that finally put to sea in September 1781 had undistinguished tenures. Newspapers do not attribute any captures to them. When the British finally sought to check Hyler and the Raritan Bay privateers in June 1782, their efforts were lampooned rather than feared. The Pennsylvania Freeman's Journal reported on June 19: The enemy have a stout galley stationed near the mouth of the Raritan, and gun boat or two cruizing about the bay, who appear to do little more else then firing now and then upon such rebel oystermen and fishermen as venture too near them. That same month, Congress approved a plan to provide wood and supplies to American prisoners held in New York to build a fishing boat if the British would permit the prisoners to fish the Shrewsbury Banks alongside Loyalist fisherman. It is unknown if his plan was ever fully-executed. For short periods of time, such as May 1780 , British fleets docked at New York and put ships on patrol on the Jersey shore. They took some prizes, and forced rebel privateers to back off. But, for long stretches in between, rebel vessels operated with impunity. The illegal trade between the Monmouth shore and New York was too profitable to be ended by the capture of some Loyalist vessels. London Traders knew the risks they were taking and enjoyed cooperation from locals along long stretches of the largely disaffected New Jersey shoreline. The capture of Loyalist fishermen engaged in peaceful activity, was that much more heart-wrenching for Loyalists. This is the subject of another article. Related Historic Site : New York City Chamber of Commerce (Manhattan, New York) Sources : New York Chamber of Commerce of Marriott Arbuthnot, John Stevens, Colonial Records of the Chamber of Commerce of New York, 1768-1784 (New York: John F. Trow, 1867) pp. 255-81; S.W. to Daniel Coxe, John Austin Stevens, Magazine of American History, 1884, vol 11, p161; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; The Scots Magazine, v43, p 373-5; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Clements Library, Proceedings of the Board of Directors of the Associated Loyalists, March 1781 p. 8-13, August, p. 5, July p. 11, and September 1781, p. 5. 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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 > The Greatest Privateer of the Jersey Shore by Michael Adelberg Philadelphia’s Fair American was the most prolific privateer vessel to sail the Jersey Shore during the Revolutionary War. Captained mostly by Stephen Decatur, it took at least sixteen prizes. - June 1780 - Prior articles discussed the rise of privateering on the Jersey shore starting in 1778. Yelverton Taylor and a number of small vessel captains from Philadelphia based themselves at Little Egg Harbor (called Egg Harbour) and took dozens of smaller British and Loyalist ships coming to and from New York. In 1779, New England privateers began “cruising the lanes” outside of Sandy Hook. They engaged and took dozens of larger British ships. The greatest prize taken off the Jersey shore may have been the Triton , a British troop transport that separated from other ships in its flotilla during a storm and lost a mast. The wounded ship was taken by Taylor and a second privateer. On October 1, 1779, they brought the Triton into Egg Harbour with 214 German soldiers as prisoners. After this event, Captain Taylor retired. The captain of the second privateer, Rhode Island-born Stephen Decatur, emerged as an even greater privateer captain. Decatur’s first documented prize was brought into Egg Harbour on November 11, 1779. Zuriel Waterman, a surgeon on board the privateer Providence , reported from Clamtown (near the southern tip of Monmouth County) that the privateer Comet under Captain Decatur had captured a prize vessel and brought it into Egg Harbour with cargo of "naval stores." With prize money from this capture and a share of the Triton , Decatur was apparently able to move to a larger ship, the 16-cannon, 125-man Fair American . He prepared for greater activities. Decatur soon teamed with the Massachusetts privateer, Jack , (captain Nathan Brown) and the Pennsylvania privateer, Argo, to capture Swallow . The 4-gun merchant vessel was on its way from Madera to New York with cargo of foods and gunpowder. Decatur then took a second vessel off Jersey shore. He escorted his prizes to Cape May to prevent their re-capture. Stephen Decatur’s Greatest Jersey Shore Prize The Pennsylvania Evening Post reported on June 3, 1780, Decatur’s actions on May 29. Decatur was “standing in here [Philadelphia] with our prize, brig Nymph , formerly the privateer Neptune of Philadelphia” when he came upon a second vessel. The report continued: We perceived two small sail standing in for Sandy Hook, which we gave chase to and came up to very fast; at eight o'clock the smallest sail bore away, and we stood after a small river schooner, which we soon took; she proved to be a prize loaded with indian corn, taken by a whale boat of thirty or forty feet long, open decked, called Lewistown Revenge, commanded by Hall, mounting one blunderbuss in her bow, one swivel in her head, and sixteen muskets and thirteen men; we then gave her chase, and took her about ten o'clock. He has a proper commission, and has been on our coast since the 13th of March, during which time he has taken twenty-eight prizes, loaded with different products for the Philadelphia market, and the boat which has so much annoyed the trade with our bay and river this spring. Decatur had taken Lewistown Revenge , the daring and famous Loyalist privateer that had been lionized in Loyalist newspapers. While the claim that Lewistown Revenge had taken 28 prizes is certainly exaggerated, Decatur’s capture of the most famous Loyalist privateer cannot be minimized. The New Jersey Gazette happily reprinted the news on June 14. Decatur’s Other Prizes According to the online database, American Independence at Sea , the Fair American , in concert with one or two other vessels, took a dozen vessels in the summer of 1780 alone. This makes Decatur the most successful privateer of the Jersey shore during the Revolutionary War. See table 11 for Decatur's 1780 successes. Throughout August, Decatur teamed with captain Roger Keane , commanding the 16-gun Philadelphia privateer, Holker . For most of his captures, teamed with a third vessel as well. As described by historian Donld Shomette, Decatur’s greatest loss was inflicted by the Continental Navy. On August 31, Fair American , General Greene, and Holker sailed for Philadelphia. While entering the Delaware River, the privateers were stopped by two Continental vessels--Trumball and Deane--and boarded. Continental press gangs took 59 sailors off the privateers. Maritime historian Donald Shomette notes that there was a shortage of American sailors by the middle years of the war, privateer captains were forced to rely on "untrained landsmen" to man their ships. Decatur did not put to sea again until October—probably because he needed to recruit and train new sailors. When he sailed again, he headed for South Carolina, perhaps to avoid additional run-ins with Continental ships. Off Charleston, Decatur took a British vessel carrying specie—the L175,000 cargo was his most valuable prize of the war. After this capture Decatur, now a rich man, apparently retired. Fair American , with a Captain Eldrigdge at the helm, took to sea again in 1781. It was involved in four more captures. On October 17, 1781, the Pennsylvania Evening Post reported: The privateer Fair American under Capt. Eldridge has brought four prizes from the same fleet into Philadelphia... All were part of a British fleet that was scattered in a storm from its navy escorts before entering Sandy Hook. Cargoes of foodstuffs, porter, dry goods, etc… the loss of which goods will be greatly felt by the enemy. This would be the last successful voyage for the Fair American . On January 16, 1782, the New Jersey Gazette printed a January 2 report from a Loyalist newspaper. The report noted that the British ship, Garland , had taken the “famous privateer” Fair American in the Delaware Bay. The report noted that the elusive Fair American "for the past two years, always escaping our cruisers by the swiftness of her sailing." Stephen Decatur would not take to sea again during the Revolutionary War, but he would continue on as one of the great heroes in American maritime history. He was a United States Navy captain who took a number of prizes during the naval war between the United States and France during the Washington administration. His son, also named Stephen Decatur, would become a national hero for his daring marine attacks during the American war against the Barbary Pirates during the Jefferson Administration. Related Historic Site : National Museum of the U.S. Navy Sources : Zuriel Waterman, Rhode Islanders Record the Revolution: the Journals of William Humphrey and Zuriel Waterman (Providence: Rhode Island Publications Society, 1984) pp. 77; Donald Shomette, Privateers of the Revolution: War on the New Jersey Coast (Shiffer: Atglen, PA, 2015); Library of Congress, Early American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Evening Post; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Pennsylvania Evening Post, June 3, 1780; American War of Independence at Sea - American Privateers: http://www.awiatsea.com/Privateers/F/Fair%20American%20Pennsylvania%20Brig%20%5bDecatur%20Jakways%20Eldridge%5d.html ; Library of Congress, Early American Newspapers, Pennsylvania Evening Post; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930. Previous Next