The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Capture and Murder of Philip White by Michael Adelberg In March 1782, a party of Loyalist raiders were captured by mounted State Troops. One prisoner, Philip White, was provoked into trying an escape. His guards hunted and killed him. - March 1782 - Before the war, Philip White lived near Long Branch with his wife, Jane Miers, whom he married in 1773. Like many Quakers on the Monmouth shore, White did not support the Revolution. In late 1776, he participated in Samuel Wright’s Loyalist association and in June 1778 he was convicted of guiding a British officer to Philadelphia while the British held the city. Two of Philip’s three brothers, Vincent White and Aaron White, were also active Loyalists. The third brother, Wiliam White, went behind British lines as well—but he did not take up arms. Philip White is listed in the 1779 Shrewsbury Township tax rolls as a “householder” owning no livestock—meaning he lived in a small house with no appreciable amount of land. White was listed as “unfit” or delinquent on militia returns into 1780. Sometime in 1780, White went behind British lines. He served on a Loyalist privateer—a genealogical source claims it was Hero’s Revenge , a three-swivel boat later captained by the Pine Robber leader, John Bacon. White guided the Loyalist party that killed John Russell, Sr., in April 1780. White also participated in the so-called London Trade . On March 28, 1782, White smuggled goods to New York and then returned to Sandy Hook where he joined with a small party of Loyalist partisans. They landed at Long Branch on March 30 and skirmished with militia. It would be his last action. The Death of Philip White The New Jersey Gazette reported on the death of Philip White on April 15: On the 30th of March last, he [White] was surprised by a party of our people, and after he had laid down his arms in a token of surrendering himself a prisoner, he again took up his musket and killed a son of Coll. [Daniel] Hendrickson; he was however taken again by our Light Horse, and on his way from Colts Neck to Freehold, he again attempted to make his escape from the guard, who called on him several times to surrender, but he continued running, often crossed and re-crossed by the Light Horse, and finally, when leading into a bog impassable by the horse, he received a stroke in the head from the sword, which killed him instantly. The above facts have not only been proved by the affidavits of our friends who were present, but by the voluntary and candid testimony of Aaron White, who was taken prisoner with said Philip White. Fifteen leading Monmouth Countians, including rivals such as Colonel David Forman and Colonel Asher Holmes, attested to the accuracy of the account: Colonel David Forman, Assemblyman John Covenhoven, Assemblyman Thomas Seabrook, Judge Peter Forman, Magistrate Richard Cox, Captain Joseph Stillwell, Captain Barnes Smock, Captain John Schenck, Colonel Samuel Forman, Attorney William Wilcocks, Colonel Asher Holmes, Major Elisha Walton, Captain Stephen Fleming, Lt. Colonel John Smock, Captain Thomas Chadwick Philip White’s brother, Aaron, was taken prisoner with Philip, but the two men were separated. Aaron White, while a prisoner in the Monmouth County jail, was visited by David Forman and gave a deposition. Aaron White recalled landing with “Philip White, John Fennimore, Jeremiah Bell, Robert Howell & Negro Moses.” (A second document claimed the party consisted of “Aaron White, John Fennimore, Negro Moses, John Worthly and one [Negro] Isaac.") Aaron White claimed the Loyalists scattered a small militia guard at Long Branch, after which "they pursued one Thomas Berkeley, with whom they had been engaged.” While pursuing Berkley, “the Light Horse [state troops under Captain John Walton] came down and the deponent and the said Philip White were made prisoners." Aaron White deposed that he was separated from Phillip and sent toward Freehold. He then stated: The deponent was told by one of the guards that Philip White was running away; that the deponent looked back and saw the Light Horsemen in pursuit of something... that Lt. Rhea and George Brindley left the deponent under guard of two men, and ran their horses back toward the place the others were pursuing; that the deponent afterwards understood that it was Philip White they were pursuing, and that he was killed. An April 14 petition from Monmouth County, protesting the murder of retaliatory execution of Joshua Huddy, asserted that White was killed because he ran away: "As a guard was conducting White to the gaol, the said White, while attempting to make an escape, was killed by his guards." Depositions were taken from Philip White’s three mounted guards—John Russell, John North, William Borden. The guards claimed that they crossed in front of White to block his escape. Borden further deposed that White continued to run even after taking several blows: Said Philip White jumped off his horse and on passing a fence next to the woods, the deponent fired and shot him through the body, the said Philip White fell, but recovered and attempted to get into the woods, upon which he turned and threw himself into a bog, where the said John North gave him a stroke with his sword; the deponent struck him with the butt end of his carbine, and he still continued to run until he was struck again by the said John North. John North agreed and added, he "left his horse and dropped his gun and pursued with a drawn sword... gave him a stroke across the face with the sword, upon which he [White] fell, cried that he was a dead man, [but] he continued to run to the last moment." Russell added that he "gave him [White] a slight wound in the forehead." This might have been the provocation that started White running. Forman submitted his own statement on White's death: The subscriber was present at the village of Freehold when the body of the refugee named Philip White was brought up - That I went to the wagon and saw the corpse. The guard attending it showed me the gunshot in his breast, also the cuts from a sword on his face. At the time the corpse appeared to be laid with as much decency as could be. Forman disputed charges of excessive violence. He saw no “wounds to his arms or legs --neither did I ever hear that his arms had been cut off or legs broken.” The Murder of Philip White Philip White's brother, Aaron, escaped jail in Freehold and made it to New York. He gave a deposition on his brother’s death as evidence in the court martial of Richard Lippincott (tried for the murder of Joshua Huddy). Aaron White “was laying off Long Branch in a Schooner, waiting for Philip White & [Negro] Moses, that were landed there the day before.” Aaron came ashore. He recalled that Philip and Moses killed “one of the Rebel Horse” (the son of Colonel Hendrickson). But his brother and Moses “made their escape by getting into Swamps.” Aaron White then recalled his and Philip’s capture: [He] was the first taken prisoner, when George Brinley, one of the Rebel Horse came up to him and swore they would put him to Death unless they caught Philip White or Moses, they soon after took Phil. White, when the said George Brindley came up to him and told him he would be damned if he should go alive to Freehold—Moses fortunately escaped. Aaron White was put “in the Waggon with Hendrickson’s corpse” and Philip White was put on a horse and separated. The guards “threatened and abused” Philip and said they “wou’d murder him before they got to Freehold.” Three new guards, “John North John Russel and William Burden took charge of him, and kept him far in the Rear.” Aaron White heard “George Brinley’s declaring he [Philip] shou’d not go alive to Freehold” as the distance grew between them. Aaron then heard his guards exclaim “that P. White was making his escape” and “that after several of these declarations, they run their Horses back to the Guard in the Rear—soon returned and said P. White was killed.” Aaron White stated that while he was “confined in Freehold Gaol,” Philip White’s first guard, Robert Clayton, told him “if they had not removed him [Philip] from out of his charge, he would have brought him safe to Freehold.” Another guard, Moses Mount, said “that if Hendrickson had not been killed, White would not have been murdered.” Aaron White recalled being visited by David Forman, who “wanted him to make Oath that Philip White was making his escape when killed.” Forman pressured Aaron White to state that Philip White attempted an escape. Aaron replied: He never saw him [Philip] endeavor to make his escape, and that he wou’d suffer death before he would make such an oath—Forman than asked him if he had not confessed to the Guard, that he saw him [Philip] running when killed—he replyed that he had acknowledged it, from apprehension that he would have been Murdered himself did he not acknowledge it. Aaron White claimed the statement he gave Forman was void because Aaron never had a chance to “read the affidavit” and only a part of it was “read back to him.” After Aaron White escaped, “he saw several of his friends who all informed him that Philip White was designedly most inhumanly and savagely murdered which this deponent verily believes to be true." (The deposition is in the appendix.) Captain Clayton Tilton was an Associated Loyalist taken separately from the White brothers. He testified at Richard Lippincott’s court martial about his capture and White’s murder: The rebels, in carrying him to Freehold gaol made a stop at Colts Neck, where Aaron and Philip White were then prisoners; that from the frequent whispers & behavior of the Rebels, it was the deponent's opinion that they intended to murder some of the prisoners. That sometime after the deponent was at Freehold, he was informed that Philip White was put to death, the Rebels alleging he attempted to make an escape. Tilton further testified about Philip White’s mistreatment by the guards. They "plundered Philip White of his stock, shoes & buckles, that they sent Aaron White with a party ahead, and kept Philip White in the rear, and they cruelly & wantonly murdered him." A genealogical source claims that Philip White was “thrown in a pig pen, bound hand and foot, and attempting to crawl away from the pigs, he was beaten and hacked until, through the loss of blood, he died." It is unknown if these details are true. Perspective The key question when considering Philip White’s death is which sources to believe. According to Whig sources (Whigs were people who supported the Revolution), White attempted an escape and refused to break off the attempt even after warnings and woundings. But Whig sources disagree on whether White was killed quickly or first sustained several blows. While the three guards admitted to striking White several times, the petition from Monmouth County leaders two weeks later stated that White “received a stroke in the head from the sword, which killed him instantly.” Loyalist sources state that the guards intended to murder White. They harassed him until he attempted an escape and wounded him several times before ultimately killing him. One of those guards, John Russell, would later admit exacting vigilante justice on Loyalists, stating that he "aided in visiting merited retribution on the refugees for their doings.” The circumstances of White’s death strongly suggest that he was murdered. Philip White’s guards were switched to North, Russel, and Borden; these new guards were all members of the Association for Retaliation —a vigilante society led by David Forman that practiced eye-for-an-eye retaliation . Russell’s father had been murdered two years earlier by a Loyalist party that included White--making White an ideal object for deadly retaliation. If White previously faked a surrender and then shot young Hendrickson, that further antagonized his guards. When White ran, he was unarmed and shot soon after. His guards could have tackled and tied him, but they continued to strike him with swords and gunstocks as he ran. A few days after Philip White’s death, Aaron White escaped from the Monmouth County jail and made it to New York. He told of his brother’s murder. Enraged, the Associated Loyalists, who by now also believed in eye-for-an-eye retaliation , took Joshua Huddy out of prison. Huddy had been captured two weeks earlier at Toms River . They brought Huddy to the Navesink Highlands and hanged him. A note was pinned to Huddy. It proclaimed: “Up goes Huddy for Phil White.” Related Historic Site : National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey Appendix: The Deposition of Aaron White Regarding the Death of Philip White Aaron White a Loyalist from Monmouth, deposeth and saith—That on Saturday the 30th day of March he was laying [too] off Long Branch in a Schooner, waiting for Philip White & Moses, that were landed there the day before. That this deponent saw them engaged with a party of the Rebel horse, that he instantly landed and went to their assistance. That Hendrickson, one of the Rebel Horse was killed, and that they were in pursuit of the others—when the Rebels were Reinforced by a considerable party of Horse, that this deponent with the others fled in their turn and endeavoured to make their escape by getting into Swamps, that this deponent was the first taken prisoner, when George Brinley one of the Rebel Horse came up to him and swore they would put him to Death unless they caught Philip White or Moses. They soon after took Phil. White, when the said George Brindley came up to him and told him he wou’d be damned if he should go alive to Freehold—Moses Foe fortunately escaped being taken, that they were carried under Guard to Colts neck, (this deponent in the Waggon with Hendricksons Corps—and P. White on Horse back at the tail of the Waggon) about 12 Miles from the place they were first taken at—and there halted untill the Commanding Officer with the remainder of the Horse came up. That they were here, threatened and abused, and Philip White frequently observed to this deponent that the Rebels wou’d murder him, before they got to Freehold, that this deponent was hurried in the Waggon, That Philip White’s Guard was changed and that John North John Russel and Willm Burden took charge of him, and kept him far in the Rear—That this deponent then verily believed from the Rebels changing P. White’s Guard—from George Brinleys declaring he shou’d not go alive to Freehold from their frequent other declarations to this purport, and from their keeping him at such a distance in the Rear, that they intended murdering him—This deponent further saith that David Rhea and George Brinley stopt with the Waggons in which he was a Prisoner when the main body of the Horse passed the Waggon—That they frequently looked back and exclaimed that P. White was making his escape—That after several of these declarations they run their Horses back to the Guard in the Rear—soon Returned and said P. White was killed—This deponent reply’d you are Joaking—they replied no by God he was Killed—And asked this deponent if he did not see him endeavor to make his escape, his own safety occasioned his acquiesing—That this deponent was confined in Freehold Goal—That Robert Clayton one of the Rebel horse, and the very person who first had charge of Philip White, told this deponent if they had not Removed him from out of his charge, he would have brought him safe to Freehold—that Moses Mount, another of the Rebel horse informed this deponent, that if Hendrickson had not been killed, White would not have been Murdered and this deponent further saith, that during his confinement Genl David Forman came to him and wanted him to make Oath that Philip White was making his escape when Killed—That he told Genl Forman that he never saw him endeavor to make his escape, and that he wou’d suffer death before he would make such an oath—Forman than asked him if he had not confessed to the Guard, that he saw him running when killed—he replyed that he had acknowledged it, from apprehension that he would have been Murdered himself did he not acknowledge it—And this deponent further saith that General Forman Qualified him relative to the time they left new York, when & when they landed, the Circumstances of the Engagement with the Horse—and the manner of their being taken—That he never Read the affidavit—and that no more of it was Read, to this deponent than what Related to the above circumstances And this deponent further saith that after his escape from Freehold Goal—he saw several of his Friends who all informed him that Philip White was designedly most inhumanly and Savagely Murdered which this deponent verily believes to be true." Sources : Dorothy Martin, Kathleen McIntosh, The History of the White Family (New Brunswick: Lancelot Press, 1977); James Green’s Company Muster Roll, New Jersey Historical Society, Holmes Family Papers, box 5, folder 4; Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Rnolution, 2 vols. (Boston: Little, Brown, 1864), vol. 2, pp. 421-2; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v5, p322-5; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v5, p322-5; To George Washington from James Robertson, 1 May 1782,” Founders Online, National Archives, last modified June 13, 2018, http://founders.archives.gov/documents/Washington/99-01-02-08307 ; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 61; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 171, item 152, vol. 10, #479-84 and #485-509; Library of Congress, Richard Lippincott Court Martial, reel 1, #158-65; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 62-3; New Jersey Gazette excerpted in William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 420; Affidavits printed in Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 63-4; James E. White, History of the White Family (St. John, New Brunswick: Barnes & Co., 1906), p4-7. 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 > 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 > Loyalists Raid Middletown Point and Keyport by Michael Adelberg During the raid of Middletown Point, Loyalists entered the house of John Burrowes, Sr. He was captured, however, Captain John Burrowes, Jr., escaped when his sister delayed the Loyalists. - May 1778 - The April 5, 1778 raid against Manasquan and the destruction of the salt works there proved that a mid-sized British military party could land on the Monmouth shore and raze a neighborhood with impunity. It was inevitable that a similar raid would soon be attempted elsewhere. A month later, the Loyalists set their sights on Middletown Point (present-day Matawan) and its leading pro-Revolution residents—John Burrowes, Sr., John Burrowes, Jr., and Samuel Forman. Building Toward the Raid against Middletown Point John Burrowes, Senior, chaired the Monmouth County Committee in early 1776 as the county moved toward independence and censured Loyalists. He was a prominent merchant (nicknamed the “Corn King” because of his mill and storehouses) who also supported local privateering ventures against British shipping. His son, John Burrowes, Jr., was a captain in the Continental Army and the most capable officer in Colonel David Forman’s Additional Regiment . Their business partner and brother-in-law was Samuel Forman (not the militia Colonel of the same name). He was one of Monmouth County’s three commissioners charged with renting Loyalist estates and preparing them for confiscation . Samuel Forman was also the father of Captain Jonthan Forman of the Continental Army. All three of these men were hated by Loyalist refugees . According to antiquarian sources, the first attempt to punish the Burrowes family was in January 1778. Thirty Loyalists landed at Keyport, where they were treated to a lavish dinner by Revaud Kearney, a squire who supported the Loyalist insurrections of December 1776. However, while Kearney was disaffected, he was not a Loyalist and did not want bloodshed in his neighborhood. During the dinner, Kearney’s slave excitedly whispered into Kearney's ear. Kearney informed the raiders that the militia was on its way and hastened their departure. A second source claims that these raiders went on Middletown Point to capture John Burrowes, Sr., but Burrowes escaped by swimming the icy Matawan Creek. These details are not found in original sources. Two events prefaced the punishing raid that would be made against Middletown Point on May 27. First, a party of privateers in an oar-powered whaleboat, under Captain Joshua Studson of Dover Township, rowed past the British guardship at Sandy Hook and entered Raritan Bay. Here, they “boarded a British schooner, captured her, and took her into Middletown Creek.” Thomas Brown of Studson’s crew hinted that this capture might have prompted the Loyalist raid: We were shortly afterward blockaded by British vessels, from which a force superior to ours landed, attacked us in the night, burnt our boat, burnt Captain Burrowes mills at Middletown Point, and then returned to their vessels. Studson’s men had to walk home to Toms River—40 miles. There was also a small raid against Middletown on May 24 that may have been a probing action to test local defenses prior to the larger raid. The New York Gazette reported: A very small detachment of Brig. General Skinner's Corps [ New Jersey Volunteers ] landed at Shoal Harbour, in East Jersey, a few nights ago, and marched up to Middletown, where they had intelligence a few of the rebel light-horse had collected; when they had surrounded the houses in town, expecting to meet these youths taking their repose, they found that eight of them, who were a little detached from the houses, had taken the alarm, and made off. They collected some sheep and a few cattle, and marched down to the shore, followed by some of the militia, who kept at a distance; another party followed the first with a brass field-piece [Joshua Huddy’s Artillery Company ], and kept at long shot for an hour and a half; the man of war at the Hook observing the contest, reinforced the party with four boats of marines, when they came off with their booty without loss. The Raid of Middletown Point With the weakness of the defenses at Middletown demonstrated, Loyalists now attacked Middletown Point. New Jersey Gazette reported on the raid that occurred on May 27: We are informed that on Wednesday morning last, a party of about seventy of the Greens from Sandy Hook landed near Major Kearney's, headed the Mill Creek, Middletown Point, and marched to Mr. John Burrowes's, made him prisoner, burnt his mills and both his storehouses, all valuable buildings, besides a great deal of his furniture -- also took Lt. Col. John Smock, Capt. Christopher Little, Mr. Joseph Wall, Capt. Jacob Covenhoven and several other persons; killed Pearce [Jonathan Pierce] and Van Brackle [John Van Brackle], and wounded another man mortally [Leonard Hoff]. Having completed these and several other barbarities, they precipitately returned the same morning to give an account of their abominable deeds to their bloody employers. A number of these gentry, we learn, were formerly inhabitants of that neighborhood. The Loyalist New York Gazette reported on the raid too, providing additional insights on the raiders: On Wednesday morning, before sunrise, a party consisting of marines from his majesty's ship Amazon and General Skinner's brigade landed at Middletown Point, where they surprised Col. Smock of the rebel militia, Captain Covenhoven of the light horse and one Lieutenant, and Mr. John Burrowes, a person of influence in Monmouth County in New Jersey; they killed three privates, wounded another dangerously, and took four privates prisoner; destroyed Mr. Burrowes grist mill and storehouses, with 5 or 6 hundred barrels of flour, and on Friday all of the abovementioned persons, with other prisoners, were lodged in safe custody in this city, without any substantial loss by the Royal party. The additional militiaman who died was Abraham Lane on June 1, presumably from a wound during the raid. A pro-Revolution lawyer-merchant from New York City, Benjamin Helme, was another raid victim. Helme hid his valuables in Burrowes’s storehouse when the British took New York. Helme’s burned possessions “consisted of household furniture, law books & several valuable papers & manuscripts" with an estimated value of £1000. Antiquarian sources credit John Burrowes, Sr’s daughter, Margaret Forman (another source claims it was Helena Burrowes) with saving her brother by delaying the raiders at the entrance of the Burrowes house. She reportedly refused them her shawl when the Loyalists demanded it as a bandage. They exchanged harsh words and she cursed them. For this, she was hit in the face. The raiders captured John, Sr., and then fired several shots upstairs and into the attic thinking John, Jr., was hiding there. But he had already escaped by swimming the Matawan Creek in his nightshirt. One antiquarian source numbered the raiding party at 200, but that seems too high; the militia party is listed in one antiquarian source as 60 men but that number is not confirmed in original sources. All sources report that the family’s mill and storehouses were burned. One antiquarian account notes that the Burrowes home was spared as an act of mercy to the women of the Burrowes family. Another one suggests that Burrowes’s sponsorship of local whaleboat privateers was among the reasons that the family was targeted. Samuel Forman, Jr., a boy at the time of the raid, later recalled: Some of the Tory invaders had been employed in the erection of the mill, and were personally well known to the citizens, and it would appear their object was, at least, the capture of Samuel Forman [Senior]. They plundered the houses of the settlement, destroying what they could not carry off, boasting that they had assisted in building the mill, and now assisted in kindling the fire to burn it down... Samuel Forman [Senior] eluded their vigilance, but lost heavily by their invasion, for he owned almost all of one side of Middletown Point, and part of both sides of Main Street. In the foray, the enemy burned down two storehouses of Mr. John H. Burrowes, robbed his house, and took him prisoner to New York. After several months, he was exchanged and returned home. The Middletown Point raid is briefly mentioned in two postwar veteran pension applications. Joseph Walling’s widow, Margaret Walling, recalled that her husband “was in the scrimmage [skirmish] at Middletown Point when the mills were burnt - when Leonard Hoff, Jonathan Pierce and John Van Brackle were killed." Joseph Vanderveer recalled "a party of refugees and Tories and British surprised a small guard at Middletown Point & killed some, besides burning a mill & stores at which place.” His militia company arrived too late to battle the raiders. In consequence of the raid and resulting captures, Dr. Thomas Henderson of Freehold (son-in-law of John Burrowes, Sr.) and Capt. Peter Wikoff of Manalapan led a gang of men from Freehold to Middletown where they took William Taylor (son of squire John Taylor and the leader of a Loyalist association in 1776). They jailed Taylor in the courthouse at Freehold. According to an antiquarian source, this was done "to secure the person of William Taylor, a prominent citizen who was suspected of favoring the Loyalists.” A prisoner exchange was negotiated – William Taylor for John Burrowes, Sr. The imprisonment and exchange of Tayor for Burrowes was – it appears – an extra-legal event. Locally-negotiated prisoner exchanges would become increasingly controversial as the war continued. Beyond Taylor’s capture, tempers ran high after the raid. Abel Morgan, the generally apolitical Baptist minister for Middletown, preached about “the murderous enemies” who killed his congregants (and militiamen) John Pierce and Leonard Hoff. The New Jersey Gazette printed a warning of retaliation: O, ye butchering British monster! We are not obliged to delay retaliating any longer! - Therefore, as you value the safety of your friends on the Island [Brooklyn or Staten Island], do not send another example as that of Middletown [Point], for the consequence may prove fatal to the Tories on the Island, in spite of your efforts to protect them. Retaliation promptly occurred. In early June, a raiding party from Middletown co-led by Captain John Schenck of Middletown and William Marriner (a boatman who had helped capture a British ship in 1776) launched a retaliatory raid against Loyalists in Brooklyn. This counter-attack is the subject of the next article. Related Historic Site : Burrowes Mansion Sources : Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 115; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v3, p 145; Thomas Brown’s pension narrative in, John C. Dann ed., The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980) pp 137-9; The New York (Royal) Gazette, May 27, 1778; Damages by British, Aquacanuck/Essex County Ledger, claim #54, New Jersey State Archives; Forman, Samuel S. Narrative of a Journey down the Ohio and Mississippi in 1789-90 (Cincinnati, R. Clarke and Co., 1888) p 7; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), pp. 529-30; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), pp. 830-1; William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1872); John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany, 4 vols, Genealogical Publishing Co, 1970, v3, p140-1; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Pennsylvania Gazette, June 13, 1778 (CD-ROM at the David Library, #24882); Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 394-5; Monmouth, Page in History (Freehold: Monmouth County Bicentennial Commission, 1976) p 17; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 2, pp. 246-7; Koegler ,M.L. Burrowes Mansion of Matawan, New Jersey, and Notations on the History of Monmouth County (Matawan, NJ: Matawan Historical Society), pp. 31, 33, 36, 40-3; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Joseph Walling; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Vanderveer of Ohio, S.3114. 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 > Captain Francis Wade at Allentown by Michael Adelberg Drawing of a Commissary’s wagon delivering provisions to the Continental Army. Commissary officers, such as Francis Wade at Allentown, had authority to seize provisions and wagons from locals. - January 1777 - As discussed in prior articles , Francis Wade of Philadelphia was a captain in the Continental Army’s Commissary Department. He was sent to Allentown in late December, 1776, to raise provisions for the Army. He arrived at a very precarious time—the Loyalist insurrectionists were scattered by Pennsylvania and Delaware soldiers, but the Loyalists were not yet defeated. There was no effective county government in Freehold. Dozens of residents were recently plundered of their livestock by Loyalist insurrectionists; others were detained and harassed. Wade faced the exceedingly difficult task of setting up an office to purchase livestock for the Continental Army at a time when the Continental government lacked both money and legitimacy. Ultimately, he was not up to the task. Francis Wade at Allentown The first documented action by Wade occurred on January 2, 1777. According to statements made by Wade and Benjamin Randolph, a merchant who guided Wade, the two men with “a few horsemen” went to the house of Richard Robins. Robins was a leading Loyalist insurrectionist. At his house, they found 39 “well-dressed” hogs which had likely been gathered during the Loyalist insurrection for the benefit of the British Army. Richard Robins was in hiding and Mrs. Robins, according to Wade and Randolph, was uncooperative. Wade recalled his conversation with her: I informed her that our army was then suffering for want of provisions; that I was to send beef and pork for their relief, and for whatever she could spare a generous price should be given; she declared they had scarce enough for the family; nay, she was sure they would fall short. I asked if they had lately killed any beef or had pork for sale; she replied ‘not any.’ When the hogs were discovered by Wade’s men, Mrs. Robins claimed no knowledge of them. Since she did not assert ownership of the hogs, Wade felt no need to compensate her when he carried them off. Richard Robins was discovered and jailed. His family claimed the right to compensation for the taken hogs and the matter reverberated in the courts into 1783. There is no evidence to suggest that the Robins family was compensated. Interestingly, it appears that Wade performed this action before he had official orders to do so. The first mention of Wade’s assignment is on January 10. On that day, George Washington wrote: "I have appointed Capt. Francis Wade to collect a quantity of provisions (particularly pork) in and about the towns of Allentown and Crosswix & c. and store the same at Newtown in Bucks County." The same day, Washington sent his official order to Wade: “You are empowered to collect all the beef, pork, flour, spirituous liquors & c. not necessary for the subsistence of the inhabitants of all parts of East Jersey lying below the road leading from Trenton to Brunswick.” Wade was also empowered “to collect & press such wagons, carriages & c. as may be necessary to transport the provisions.” Washington encouraged Wade to offer generous terms to the locals, but also empowered him to impress goods if refused: You are to notify the inhabitants and request them to bring in all the above enumerated articles not necessary for their own subsistence, at such a price as you shall appoint, for which they shall be paid a generous price; but if any should refuse to comply with the request, you are required to take such articles as they withhold by force, giving the proper certificates for the articles. Over the next few weeks, it appears that Wade’s primary duty was cataloging the goods taken by Francis Gurney’s Pennsylvania regiment as it pushed east from Freehold following the “ first ” Battle of Monmouth. Gurney’s men broke up Loyalist stores at Middletown and Shrewsbury. On January 29, Wade, still at Allentown, compiled a list of goods sent to him by Gurney. He wrote Washington: “Enclosed you have a return of provisions stopped by me from Lt. Col. Gurney's party." He sent forward: 55 barrels of fresh pork, 59 sacks of peas, 3 turces of rice, 1 half-pipe of wine, 7 casks of rum, 3 barrels of sugar, 1 cask of limes, 17 hatchets, 2 iron pots, 3 iron kettles, and a half cask of oil. The caravan was valued at £905. In the same report, Wade noted difficulties in raising meat for the Army. He complained: I have great mortification to be without the assistance, at present, of either men or money, I have had, until a few days past, a few of the Philadelphia County militia, but their time being out, as they say, are going home. So I have not a man. He further complained about the "extravagant price " of salt (in which meat was packed in order to preserve it). Wade noted that "I have sent a party yesterday down to the salt works where I had information there is a quantity ready, with orders to secure it." Two weeks later, Wade wrote Congress from Allentown that he had "made considerable progress purchasing provisions of pork & c. for the use of the Army, but have not been so fortunate as to obtain one shilling to pay.” Wade was issuing receipts for purchases but warned that his inability to pay cash “causes a general murmuring among the people & makes my situation rather disagreeable.” Wade also noted his competition with the State of New Jersey’s Commissary Office, “I have purchased at a much lower rate than the [State] Commissary has been giving for the same articles.” He concluded his letter ominously: “I am desirous to do all the good service I can, but unless supported by your body in the cash way, I will find it impossible." On March 4, Wade again wrote Congress from Allentown. His relations with locals had soured, "I have to deal with a sett of the most disaffected wretches that were existed” who are "prejudicing others against me by insinuating that I was never intending they should be paid for their produce." Wade noted that he asked General Israel Putnam to send him men so that he could go east to seize provisions as Gurney had done in January. If "he will strengthen me, I intend tomorrow for Monmouth (Ct. House), Shrewsbury." Wade’s March 4 letter was likely forwarded to George Washington. On March 19, Washington wrote Major Thomas Mifflin about Wade and other commissary officers in New Jersey: I have had so many complaints of irregularity and ill conduct in the Deputy Commissaries, which I have in vain endeavored to remedy, that I some time ago directed Colo. Trumbull [Jonathan Trumball] to come down himself and regulate his own Department. I expect him daily, when I hope he will make strict inquiry into the Conduct of all of them. Washington also specifically discussed Wade. “Capt. Wade may be a man of warm temper, but he has had a sad disaffected Set to deal with." On March 25, Wade wrote George Washington, but that letter has not survived. Washington’s response on March 28 suggests that Wade wrote about his continued frustrations with Monmouth’s disaffected: I have yours of the 25th inclosing sundry Letters and papers respecting some of the most notorious of the disaffected in the County of Monmouth. It is lamented that the States will not pursue the proper Methods to root out all such dangerous Enemies from among them. It is not in my power to do it at present, having sufficient work upon my Hands to watch the common and more powerful Enemy—But I hope the time will come when they will pay for their Villanies. By April, Wade’s purchasing activities seem to have ceased, but his involvement in local activities against Loyalists increased. After Lewis Bestedo captured a gang of Loyalists (the subject of another article ), Wade and David Brearley examined the prisoners on April 10. Wade wrote Governor William Livingston about one of the captured Loyalists, Jesse Woodward: “I find he is very backward in giving any information.” But Wade’s concern with disaffection in Monmouth County extended far beyond Woodward and foreshadowed the Pine Robber gangs that started in 1778: “It plainly appears that there is a gang of them living in the pines and no doubt in readiness to show themselves whenever an opportunity offers.” Wade promised to seek military assistance from George Washington. He worried that the local militia, under Colonel Samuel Forman, was not ready to face down the Loyalists because their "ammunition is much wanting." Indeed, Colonel Forman’s men were not in good shape. But he blamed that, in large part, on Wade. Forman wrote Livingston complaining that higher prices were paid for provisions in Philadelphia than in Allentown, resulting in local shortages. He complained: "I expected we had two days provision of meat, but alas… we had no meat & none be expected from the Commissary." He wrote that the commissaries “leaving only receipts only is another great stumbling block." Forman concluded that “every man pleads the right of getting the best price he can - they say 'we are fighting for liberty & are deprived of liberty by our own people' [commissaries purchasing at a fixed price], they don't understand." Francis Wade Leaves Allentown Wade’s time in Allentown was nearly done. It is unclear exactly when he left, but Wade was home in Philadelphia in May. There, he heard that his time at Allentown was viewed negatively. He wrote George Washington, "it gives me concern to think that you have been troubled on account of the departments I have been acting in… I have petitioned the Congress to appoint a committee to inquire into my conduct & the conduct of the people I had to deal with.” The Continental Congress convened such an inquiry and three Upper Freehold Whigs—John Lawrie, Michael Mount and Jacob Hendrickson—petitioned in support of Wade. On June 26, Congress concluded that Wade “governed himself as nearly to the principles of justice and moderation, and acted with as little severity as might be expected in the execution of such an office." Wade also expressed concern regarding David Forman’s attempt to bring Monmouth County’s disaffected to heel through a general militia muster : I wish I could join your Excellency in the opinion by which Genl. Forman being able to keep the disaffected in Monmouth County in order. I fear he has not the strength for it & as to their militia, I am of the opinion that if they do turn out, they will be of more hurt than good to him. Forman’s actions in Monmouth County in 1777 are the subject of several other articles . As for Wade, he never returned to Monmouth County, but a reconfigured commissary department would again raise provisions in Monmouth County starting in 1778. This time, a local officer, David Rhea, would lead the effort. Related Historic Sites : Morristown National Historical Park . Sources : Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; George Washington to Congress, January 10, 1777, The George Washington Papers, Library of Congress, www.loc.gov ; George Washington to Francis Wade, January 10, 1777, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw060380)) ; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 3B, reel 17, January 11, 1777; Francis Wade to George Washington, January 29, 1777, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 8, 6 January 1777 – 27 March 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1998, pp. 185–186; Francis Wade to Congress, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/P?mgw:7:./temp/~ammem_XXqo :: Francis Wade to Congress, February 16, 1777, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I78, Miscellaneous Letters to Congress, v23, p367; Francis Wade to George Washington, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I78, Miscellaneous Letters to Congress, v23, p383; George Washington to Thomas Mifflin, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw070298)) ; George Washington to Francis Wade, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 9, 28 March 1777 – 10 June 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1999, pp. 7–8; Samuel Forman to William Livingsgton, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Coll., State Library Manuscript Coll., #121; David Fowler, egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 87; Francis Wade to William Livingston, Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) p 53; Francis Wade to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 42, May 1777; Journals of the Continental Congress, June 26, 1777, p499 ( www.ammem/amlaw/lwdg.html ). 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 > Committees Consider Three Loyalists by Michael Adelberg Thomas Leonard was a vestryman at St. Peter’s Church—at least until his refusal to support the Continental Association put him at odds with vestryman John Forman and the County Committee. - January 1775 - One of the primary functions of the county and township committees was enforcing compliance with the Continental Association – a pledge to boycott British goods and resist British policies that infringed on the rights of Americans. In 1775, local leaders across the Thirteen Colonies who opposed the Continental Association faced punishments for doing so. In Monmouth County, it was the county and township committees that enforced the Continental Association. While documentation is uneven, it appears that, in early 1775, the committees of Monmouth County began to move against pro-British local leaders. There are three actions reported in the incomplete surviving committee documents, but the full number of actions taken against Loyalists by the committees is certainly higher. (For example, Samuel Osborne, who opposed the Continental Association, recorded that he was “frequently arraigned before the County Committee.” Henry Perrine wrote that he “was deemed an enemy to my country” by the County Committee for refusing to sign the Continental Association. Samuel Wright was summoned to appear before the County Committee and refused the summons. But these names do not appear in the incomplete surviving committee documents.) The Dover Township Committee (in present-day Ocean County) may have been the first to act. A document from the Dover Township committee records: Whereas Peter Woglom from Staten Island has lately come to this place and brought a quantity of India tea and exposed the same to sale…. in violation of the agreement and association of the Continental Congress lately held at Philadelphia; and as we, the Committee of Dover, having full proof of the fact above, are of the opinion that said Woglom ought to be shunned as a public enemy; therefore we advise every friend to his Country not to have any kind of dealings with him. At roughly the same time, the Monmouth County Committee, meeting in Freehold, considered the conduct of Elisha Lawrence, the county sheriff under the Royal Government. Lawrence would later admit that he had “exerted himself in his office” to influence a Grand Jury. The Committee declared that Lawrence’s conduct “has been deemed inimitable to the rights of America” and summoned Lawrence. He “did voluntarily appear in this chamber” and apparently repented for whatever offense he had given. “With readiness & freedom, [he did] sign the general association and afterwards gave this Committee full and ample satisfaction with regards to what had been alleged against him." The Committee unanimously concluded that Lawrence "is restored to their good opinion" and it encouraged the people to once again treat Lawrence with "friendship.” That friendship would not last—shortly after the Declaration of Independence was signed, Lawrence joined the British Army. He was commissioned the Lt. Colonel of the First Battalion of the New Jersey Volunteers , a Loyalist corps of the British Army. Finally, on April 5, 1775, the Freehold Township Committee considered the actions of Thomas Leonard. He was summoned to appear before the committee but refused to do so. Nonetheless, the committee heard evidence against Leonard and declared him "guilty of the breach of the Continental Association.” The Committee warned that “every friend of freedom ought immediately to break off all connection and dealings with him, and treat him as a foe to the rights of British America." Less than two weeks later, Leonard’s isolation fueled a conflict with John Forman. The two men were vestrymen charged with fundraising for the construction of St. Peter’s Church in Freehold. Leonard sent a letter to Forman claiming that Forman needed “to lay the state of the monies received & paid by you" for the church before Leonard. Forman apparently reneged on whatever agreement had previously been reached—probably because of Leonard’s status as an enemy of the committee and Continental Association. Leonard demanded a full accounting of Forman's collections for the church. Fifteen months later, Leonard became a major in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers. The activities of the committees in Freehold were noticed as far away as New York City. In April 1775, a pro-British newspaper, the Royal Gazette , blasted the committees in Freehold as “a snarling, pediculous litter of raccoons." But, in comparison to the mob activity in the cities, the activities of the Monmouth County committees were quite moderate. The committees conducted their affairs with due process and the selected punishment (ostracism) was non-violent. The moderation that guided the Monmouth County committees in 1775 would not last. By the later years of the Revolution, a faction of Monmouth County Whigs, centered in Freehold, embraced violent vigilantism under an extra-legal organization known as the Retaliators . Related Historical Sites : St. Peter’s Church Sources : Historical Society of Pennsylvania, Edward Carey Gardner Collection, Misc. Manuscripts; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 25; Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, First Series, 1846, p 189; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 2, p 254; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 25; Monmouth County Historical Association, Vault, Shelf 4, box: St. Peter's Church of Freehold, folder: 1710-1823; Samuel Osborne’s Loyalist Claim, Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Application Claims, D96, AO 13/110, reel 10; William Perrine’s Loyalist Claim, Rutgers University Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Compensation Claims, D96, AO 13/19, reel 6 and AO 13/111, reel 10; Elisha Lawrence’s Loyalist Compensation Application, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v93, reel 4, #226. 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Become a Volunteer Educator! Would you like to be a part of something greater than yourself? Would you like to engage with students eager to learn about their amazing local history? Would you like to give the gift of time and effort to help our education program and youth community grow? If your answer to any of these questions is YES , then we want you to VOLUNTEER WITH US! Apply The generosity and efforts of our valued volunteers are integral to the success of our K-12 education programs. A background in education is preferred, but those with a flair for storytelling or a love of history are encouraged to apply! Prerequisites : Availability during school hours Reliable transportation to locations Ability climb stairs Interview by phone and/or in person Program Locations: Marlpit Hall, Middletown Covenhoven House, Freehold MCHA Museum, Freehold Allen House, Shrewsbury Additional Information : We will work with your schedule and preferences Tours run about 60 minutes for Grades 3-5; 90 minutes for Grades 6-12 Mandatory training will be provided by MCHA staff to ensure our volunteers are confident and effective educators Volunteers will always conduct programs with one or two other staff/volunteers Period clothing is required for programs at Covenhoven House and Allen House, and will be provided from our authentic colonial reproduction wardrobe! MCHA Volunteer Educator Application Please fill out the form completely to be considered for a position Name Email Phone Address Hours of availability Our volunteering shifts vary depending on the location or event. 9am-3 Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday How did you hear about us? Language skills About yourself References Submit Thank you! Your application has been sent Volunteer Application Have a question? Please email Yvette Rego, On-Site Education Coordinator at education@monmouthhistory.org

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The First Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer by Michael Adelberg After a year and a half of inactivity, the Monmouth County courts reconvened at the county courthouse with a Court of Oyer & Terminer that heard charges against 94 men and 11 women. - January 1778 - Monmouth County’s courts ceased functioning in spring 1776 when the Royal government broke down. While courts were re-established under New Jersey’s Constitution of July 1776, there is no evidence that they met in Monmouth County—probably because so many of the officers of the court were Loyalists or disaffected. Monmouth County’s missing legal papers —taken during the Loyalist insurrections of December 1776—further hamstrung any attempt to re-convene the courts. Historian Richard Haskett wrote that much of New Jersey did not have functioning courts under the new government until early 1778. Each county was expected to convene Courts of General Sessions quarterly for ordinary crimes and Courts of Oyer & Terminer as needed for particularly consequential and political crimes. Haskett noted many problems with these early courts: novice judges, poor records, rulings not enforced by civil officers, and war intrusions. In lieu of courts, Loyalists and political criminals in Monmouth County were arrested by military units—such as those commanded by David Forman, Charles Read, Adam Stephen, and Francis Gurney—and sent to far-off prisons without trial. In 1777, the New Jersey Supreme Court heard a few cases regarding Monmouth County crimes and the New Jersey Council of Safety emerged as the primary vehicle for trying political prisoners. But punishments from the Council of Safety were often temporary until the courts could meet. Convening the First Court of Oyer and Terminer On December 7, the Council of Safety authorized a Court of Oyer and Terminer for Monmouth County to convene on January 20, 1778. The court was advertised in the state-supported newspaper, the New Jersey Gazette , on December 17. Local judges were assigned under Chief Justice Robert Morris of Middlesex County. There were three township magistrates: John Longstreet, Peter Schenck, Thomas Forman. Twenty grand jurors were also selected: William Tapscott David Forman* Hendrick Smock Henry Green, Jonathan Pierce Gilbert Van Mater Garrett Hendrickson Peter Covenhoven Joseph Stillwell* Cornelius Covenhoven Jacob Van Dorn Aucke Wikoff* Thomas Hunn* John Schenck* Joshua Anderson Elisha Walton* John Holmes Peter Imlay Richard Crawford Tobias Hendrickson Only six of the grand jurors held military officer commissions (see asterisk above). The aversion to military officers was likely deliberate. State authorities likely wanted to ensure that the court would be perceived in a dispassionate civil court (in contrast to the impromptu military tribunals convened in 1777). The constables and coroners for each of the six townships were required to attend and give testimony. However, three constables (Zephaniah Morris, Peter Johnson and Edward Wilbur) and one coroner (Jonathan Brown) never appeared. Brown was fined £3 for not appearing. The court convened at Freehold on January 20 and continued meeting until February 7. On January 23, the New Jersey Council of Safety ordered that the three Upper Freehold Loyalists it had jailed at Morristown—Thomas Fowler, Jesse Woodward, Richard Robins—should be transferred to Freehold for trial. The Proceedings of the First Court of Oyer and Terminer Fortunately, the docket and some other legal papers of the First Monmouth County Court of Oyer & Terminer have survived. There were 105 total indictments. The outcome of most of these indictments is unknown, but 22 men are documented as convicted. See Table 5 . Many defendants were charged with non-specific “misdemeanors.” Given the Court of Oyer & Terminer’s focus on political crimes, and corroborated by records from subsequent courts, it can be safely assumed that most misdemeanors brought before this court were for going behind enemy lines or illegally trading with the enemy. Riot & Trespass was the charge applied to many of the Loyalist insurrectionists who led “riotous” parties of men in breaking into the homes of Whigs and confiscating their guns, horses and wagons. Trespass was used to describe when a person was charged with going onto private property and taking or damaging something of value on that private property. Two future Loyalists, Josiah Giberson and Guisebert Giberson were charged with “cattle stealing” but it is unknown if they were convicted. David Taylor was charged with Riot & Trespass; he pled not guilty, and then the docket notes that he "leaves home without trial." He likely fled behind British lines. Samuel Miers and Jacob Wardell were convicted of crimes, but they were permitted by the court to “invoke act of grace.” They took loyalty oaths and were released without future punishment. Three local Revolutionary leaders were indicted. Captain John Burrowes and Estate Forfeiture Commissioner William Wikoff were both charged with trespass by Margaret Holmes; they were found not guilty. Captain Joshua Huddy, however, pled guilty to two separate assaults against Charles Gilmore and Benjamin Luffburrow; he was fined £15, less than Loyalists convicted on similar charges. Eleven of the 105 indictments were issued against women. Of these eleven, the following women were convicted of misdemeanors: Christian Crowell fined £3], Catherine Farrow [fined £3], Sarah Grover [fined £10, Phoebe Johnson [fined £5], Sarah Roberts [fined s20], Deborah Taylor [fined £3], Huldah Van Mater fined £3]. One woman, Theodocia Grover, had her case dismissed. Christian Crowell was the wife of Thomas Crowell, who captained a Loyalist boat, and Deborah Taylor was the wife of Colonel George Taylor, who led Loyalist raids into Monmouth County in 1777. However, the majority of these women were not the wives of Loyalist combatants. Huldah Van Mater was the wife of a prominent Loyalist, but also the sister of Asher Holmes, Colonel of Monmouth County’s First Militia regiment. In 1776 and 1777, hundreds of Monmouth County Loyalists participated in insurrections, raids, property confiscations, and acts of violence against their neighbors. The First Court of Oyer & Terminer for Monmouth County was the first in-county opportunity to exact justice (and revenge) against these perpetrators. Despite the increasing resentments against Loyalists and their disaffected allies, no individual was sentenced to more than one year in jail; the majority of fines were less than the cost of a reliable horse (roughly £20). Given the potential precedent set three months earlier by the extra-legal hanging of the Loyalist, Stephen Edwards, the court showed remarkable restraint—even leniency—in its sentencing. This would contrast significantly with the second Courts of Oyer & Terminer which meted out several death sentences. Related Historic Site : Old Salem County Courthouse Sources : Richard C. Haskett, “Prosecuting the Revolution,” in American Historical Review, vol. 49 (April 1954), pp. 580-1; Catalog of the Exhibition: Joshua Huddy and the American Revolution, Monmouth County Library Headquarters, October 2004 (Monmouth County Archives); David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 59, 64; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, p 514; Morristown National Historical Park Collection, reel 39, Monmouth Legal; Monmouth Courts; Morristown National Historical Park Collection, reel 39, Monmouth Courts; New Jersey State Archives, Judicial Records, Court of Oyer & Terminer, box 2, folder -January 1778; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 195; State Auditor Acct Books, New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Treasury, State Auditor's Account Book, Sheriff Fines, Monmouth County, reel 181, pp. 195-203. 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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 > Scandals Mar the Sale of Loyalist Estates by Michael Adelberg Gilbert Van Mater was given three slaves by his Loyalist father. They were taken from him and sold with his father’s estate. This and other scandals marred Monmouth County’s Loyalist estate sales. - March 1779 - As discussed in the prior article, auctions of Loyalist estates were held in Monmouth County starting in March 1779. Within a month, 70 estates were sold at public auction. Given the rush of activity and lack of precedent for holding these auctions, some irregularities were inevitable. But what occurred greatly exceeded mere irregularity. The affairs of Monmouth County’s Forfeiture Commissioners - Samuel Forman, Kenneth Hankinson, Jacob Wikoff, Joseph Lawrence - would be a concern of the New Jersey government for several years. New Jersey Legislature Considers Problems with Monmouth County Estate Auctions The first Loyalist estate auction occurred in Freehold on March 17. Just a week later, a petition was sent to the New Jersey Legislature regarding the “great & grievous complaints… made against the present, as well as the former proceedings of the Commissioners appointed by Law for taking charge of and disposing of the forfeited estates.” The legislature was asked to hear witnesses “so that justice may be done to the Commissioners.” Petitioners included Colonel Asher Holmes, commanding the Freehold and Middletown militias and Captain John Schenck, hero of the April 1778 raid against Brooklyn . Another petition against the Forfeiture Commissioners, dated May 8, was soon sent to the Legislature. The petitioners alleged three misconducts: (1.) “not advertising sd real estate agreeable to law,” (2.) “not selling to the highest bidder,” and (3.) “selling the whole movable estate of an individual together, without letting people in general know what it [the estate] consists of." Holmes and Schenck signed this petition, along with other three militia officers (Barnes Smock, James Walling, and Hendrick Hendrickson), and other prominent citizens. On May 17, the New Jersey Assembly considered petitions "setting forth that the Commissioners of Forfeited Estates in said County have been guilty of misconduct in execution & trust reposed in them.” It appointed a committee to investigate. The Legislative Council, the upper house of the legislature, established a commission of its own on May 25. In June, Colonel David Forman, who purchased four confiscated estates, complained about one of those estates. Forman claimed he was misled regarding the value of Hendrick Van Mater’s estate. He wrote that the sale was conducted “without producing any inventory.” The estate “sold for something more than eleven hundred pounds… the commissioners then being asked for an inventory, said it had formerly been appraised for seventy pounds." The records of the Forfeiture Commissioners record that Forman purchased the estate for £2,725. The New Jersey Assembly read the petition and ordered depositions taken regarding the allegations. Another scandal heard before the legislature involved the “Red House”—a handsome home in the village of Freehold that had belonged to John Longstreet (who became a Captain in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers ). At this auction, Mrs. Jane Forman was favored in her bidding against David Rhea, the Quartermaster agent for Monmouth County. Forman had made it known that she was buying the house for Longstreet’s orphaned family and the crier, an act of charity, rigged the bidding to get her the house. Depositions were taken and the auction was reversed—Rhea ultimately took the house. In September, the New Jersey Legislature renewed its interest in the irregularities of the Monmouth County auctions. On September 20, John Van Mater, brother of Loyalist Daniel Van Mater, petitioned the legislature on behalf of Gilbert Van Mater, son of Daniel. The petition argued: Several Negroes who had about twelve years ago been given by Daniel Van Mater (now a refugee in New York) to his son, Gilbert Van Mater, now seventeen years of age, were by the commissioners of the County seized and sold as property of Daniel Van Mater. The Assembly referred the Van Mater to the courts because “the law is adequate to the relief of the petitioner." But the petition re-started discussion about events in Monmouth County. Hearings Held into Forfeiture Estate Auctions The next day, the Assembly again considered the Loyalist estate auctions in Monmouth County. It summoned ten prominent Monmouth Countians to testify. The four Forfeiture Commissioners were also summoned; they requested more time because “many of their witnesses are not yet arrived.” The Assembly proceeded on September 22. Albert Covenhoven testified to irregularities in the sale of the Van Mater estate. He testified that "any person purchasing should pay the money immediately” and “that several persons said they could not buy a house on those terms.” He also testified that: The goods were not present, but a mile or two distant; that several moveable estates were sold altogether, as Daniel Van Mater's, Hendrick Van Mater's & several negroes, as a man, wench & boy of Daniel Van Mater's were sold altogether, and not present. He also testified that parts of John Longstreet’s estate were arbitrarily divided: “An inventory was produced & shewn, that sundry articles were crossed out, which articles were not to be sold." William Covenhoven testified to four irregularities at three auctions: (1.) “bids were made so fast that he could not distinguish them, nor knew when the minutes were out, at length the crier said it was Schenck's." (2.) “goods were sold, that there was some goods there, but not all, thinks the whole of the moveable estate was sold to Mr. Forman." (3.) "Mr. Forman held the watch when Leonard's place was sold, that they were bidding as fast as possible, when it was said time was out." And (4) "They sold waggons at Middletown for Stout’s place, which was said to be at Smock's Point, sold for £20, that the buyer afterwards got the waggons & said he would not take £100 for it." John Schenck testified to bidding against Major Elisha Walton on Thomas Leonard's estate: “Mr. [Samuel] Forman said the time was out, & lowered the watch as he spoke, that as the word left Mr. Forman's, major Walton bid £25 more." The bid was allowed to stand and Walton won the estate. Five respected Monmouth Countians (Captain John Schenck, Judge Kenneth Anderson, Sheriff Nicholas Van Brunt, Magistrate Garrett Longstreet) testified to auction bias in favor of “Mr. Dennis”: “They bid slow, then [the crier] put it off & took off an hour.” The crier then resumed the bidding and “run it on a while & then adjourned it five minutes." Then "Col. Forman said the time was out. After which Mr. Dennis bid £50, that he [they] saw the watch, that Dennis bid was near a quarter of a minute after the time was out." Three auction criers (Daniel Harbert, Tunis Vanderveer, Joseph Schenck) hired by the Forfeiture Commissioners testified and asserted their innocence. Nathaniel Scudder testified in support of them, saying he "attended the sales one day & thought it was fair and equitable.” Justice Longstreet and Sheriff Van Brunt partially contradicted their earlier testimony by stating that the auctions they attended "were very fair." Cornelius Covenhoven testified that “they [the auctions] was fair from what was to be seen." Tunis Vanderveer (not the crier) testified in support of the auctions, stating that "the sale was put off an hour at his request” to give him the chance to appraise the estates. In so doing, Vanderveer unwittingly admitted to receiving preferential treatment from the Commissioners. That same day, the Commissioners protested “that the charges [against them] are uncertain, vague & indeterminate.” They argued that the courts were better venues for considering the complaints against them “as the charges against your petitioners, if true, are all cognizable in the usual courts of law.” The Forfeiture Commissioners also prayed that “they may at least be allowed to be heard by council.” Finally, they asked to be compensated for the “very heavy expense procuring a great number of witnesses in their behalf which are kept here at an enormous charge.” It is not clear if the Commissioners testified, but on September 29, the Assembly heard a bill to remove them. The next day, the Legislative Council issued a report on their conduct identifying six examples of misconduct. The commissioners: (1.) "did not advertise certain lands one month [prior] in New Jersey Gazette before the day of sale"; (2.) "did not in advertisements particularly describe the premises being sold"; (3) "sold at Middletown fourteen plantations or tracts of land, not only a very stormy day when few people could be expected to attend, and [sold] some of them greatly under their saleable value"; (4.) "pretended to sell, by watch, or minute, though in some instances they took bids and struck off lands after the expiration of the time limited; yet in other cases the lands were struck off and the sale declared, while the people were bidding very fast"; (5.) "sold sundry articles to a very considerable amount without showing the same to the purchasers, that they might judge their value"; and (6.) "sold the personal estate of several persons in a lump, without letting the people know the particulars of which they consisted." The report condemned the Monmouth Commissioners for the "impropriety and illegality" of the auctions. The Council then heard a resolution stating: That Samuel Forman, Kenneth Hankinson and Joseph Lawrence, Commissioners appointed for taking charge of forfeited estates, having abused the trust reposed in them, to the great injury of the State, ought to be discharged from their appointment. However, the Council did not vote on the resolution to remove the Commissioners. On November 10, the Assembly re-heard the bill to remove them and also opted not to vote on the bill. The Legislative Council returned to the Monmouth Forfeiture Commissioners on December 16. That day, it debated a new resolution to remove them from office, but the resolution failed by a 5-6 vote. The Council then passed a resolution, 8-3, to refer to the charges against the Commissioners to the state’s Attorney General. The Attorney General be & is hereby ordered to commence as an action on behalf of the State, of at least one hundred pounds damages against the Commissioners, for selling the forfeited estates in Monmouth, for the neglect of their duty & the illegal conduct in the execution of their offices as Commissioners; and that he prosecute to the same effect without delay. The Council declined to vote on another resolution to remove the Commissioners on December 21. Continued Problems with Estate Forfeiture Auctions With their positions secure, the Commissioners returned to their duties. In January, they advertised in the New Jersey Gazette that estate purchasers "are desired to make immediate payment or be prosecuted without any distinction.” The advertisement was printed for three consecutive weeks. The threatening tone may have led to new complaints against the Commissioners. The New Jersey Assembly again debated a bill to remove the Commissioners in February, but never voted on it. Other bills were considered in March and September, but they were never voted on either. In October 1780, the Legislature received a new petition, with 72 signatures, complaining of the conduct of the Commissioners. The Assembly re-read the bill to remove the Commissioners, but declined to vote. Meanwhile, the Commissioner who kept the financial records, Jacob Wikoff, resigned. In his resignation, he said he “faithfully served in said office” but resigned due to unspecified “difficulties and inconveniences.” His books include curiously large expenses, such as: £912 in court fees; £1,005 in attorney fees; £1,191 "cash paid for collecting, keeping, selling & c. forfeited estates," and £4,916 for "commissions on" estates. These last two entries likely include fees paid by the Commissioners to themselves. Disappointed by the scandals and lower-than-expected revenues, the New Jersey Legislature suspended Loyalist estate auctions in June 1781. Later that year, the State attempted to assert control over the Forfeiture Commissioners. A November 24 report compiled by the Council noted that Jacob Wikoff still owed the state £688. A month later, Governor William Livingston criticized Forfeiture Commissioners for profiteering by taking in high-value currencies and paying out low-value currencies (several currencies were used in Revolutionary New Jersey). He wrote, "[they] have plundered us out of thousands by trading with money, and afterwards paying us at great depreciation." In 1782, the State appointed an agent in each county for examining and settling the accounts of the Forfeiture Commissioners—Joseph Stillwell for Monmouth County. With this new check in place, auctions resumed. But Stillwell soon became embroiled in a dispute with Sheriff John Burrowes, who sued Stillwell in the New Jersey Supreme Court for refusing to partition a 1,200-acre confiscated estate in Dover Township (thereby making it unaffordable to all but a few potential purchasers). In 1785, the Forfeiture Commissioners still had unsettled accounts with the State. In March, Samuel Forman, one of Monmouth Commissioners, wrote in the New Jersey Gazette regarding “the particular circumstances of the Monmouth Commissioners' supposed debt.” He wrote: The subscriber thinks it very right that delinquents should be exposed, but does not look on himself as one. The supposed debt had been paid twice; the payments returned to the disadvantage of the state. A receipt in discharge is now given. But the accounts of the Monmouth Forfeiture Commissioners remained unsettled for another decade. Finally, on November 14, 1795, the Assembly sought to settle matters regarding “that final judgment against a number of fugitives, whose estates were forfeited.” New Jersey newspapers then advertised a hearing would be held regarding fifteen Loyalist estates “to provide for the restoration of certain minutes or records of the court of Common Pleas in the county of Monmouth which have been lost, embezzled or destroyed.” In March 1796, the Legislature passed a law authorizing Monmouth County’s Court of Common Pleas “restore” the missing records and settle accounts. North Carolina and Georgia also suspended Loyalist estates. Historian Esmond Wright argued that the confiscation of Loyalist estates, whatever the defects, were useful because they kept potential Loyalists at home and at least nominally loyal. That may be true, but the unprofessional conduct and likely corruption of some of the commissioners was an unquestionable blemish on the new nation, and Monmouth County’s auctions were among the worst. Related Historic Site : Monmouth County Historical Association Museum Sources : New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 35, #81; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, box 35, #81 and #83; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 14, #41; 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; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 48; Richard C. Haskett, “Prosecuting the Revolution,” in American Historical Review, vol. 49 (April 1954), pp. 585-6; Riccards, Michael P. "Patriots and Plunderers: Confiscation of Loyalist Lands in New Jersey, 1776–1786," New Jersey History, vol. 86 (1968) p 18-24; Allan Nevins, The American States during and after the Revolution, 1775-1789 (1924; rpt. New York: Augustus M. Kelly, 1969), p 508; Esmond Wright, ed., Red, White and True Blue: The Loyalists in the Revolution, (New York: AMS Press, 1976) p 146; Petition, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 14, #46; "Monmouth County, New Jersey - Forfeited Estates in the Revolution in the Revolution," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 10, July 1925, pp. 316-21; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, May 13, 1779, p 97; "Forfeited to the State: Curious Documents of the Revolutionary Period," Red Bank Register, October 27, 1897. Monmouth County Historical Association's articles file; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, April 23, 1779, p 101; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1776) p35, 38, 57, 67, 94-5; Account Book, NJ State Archives, Dept. of Treasury, Auditor's Acct. Books, Book B, Ledger A, reel 181, #468; Petition, Monmouth County Historical Association, J. Amory Haskell Collection, folder 22, Document C; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 20, 1779, p 167; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 21, 22, and 30, 1779, p 170-187; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 14, #48; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, box 38, #83; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 35, #83; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, box 14, #49; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1779) p89; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1776) p35, 38, 57, 67, 94-5; Leonard Lundin, Cockpit of the Revolution the War for Independence in New Jersey (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950) pp. 286-8; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 29 and November 10, 1779, p 10; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, February 23-24, 1780, p 120-122, 124-126; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, March 7 and 9, 1780, p 144-161; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, September 14, 1780, p 259; Jacob Wikoff to Thomas Seabrook, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 15, folder 7; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 30 and November 3, 1780, p 10-16; J. T. Main, The Sovereign States, 1775-1783 (New York: New Viewpoints, 1973), pp. 290, 314; Ruth M. Keesey, "New Jersey Legislation Concerning Loyalists," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, vol. 79 (1961), p 90; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1781) p16; William Livingston’s sentiments are in Riccards, Michael P. "Patriots and Plunderers: Confiscation of Loyalist Lands in New Jersey, 1776–1786," New Jersey History, vol. 86 (1968) p 22; New Jersey appoints Joseph Stillwell as estate forfeiture agent, New Jersey State Archives, Dept of Defense, Military Records, Revolutionary War Copies, box 10, #43A; Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, December 14, 1782, p 59; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #5188; Petition, New Jersey Gazette, June 25, 1783; New Jersey Gazette, March 28, 1785; A List of Names of Those Persons Whose Estates were Confiscated, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Audit Office, Class 12, Volume 85, folios 43-46; New Jersey Chronicle, January 2, 1796; The Laws of the State of New Jersey, (Newark: Matthias Day, 1800), p198-9. 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 > New Jersey Council of Safety Moves on Monmouth Loyalists by Michael Adelberg The aging squire James Grover was allowed to stay at home without punishment by the New Jersey Council of Safety despite being prominent in a Loyalist insurrection five months earlier. - April 1777 - In the early months of 1777, New Jersey emerged from a period of British occupation during which thousands of its citizens declared allegiance to Great Britain. In a number of counties, and particularly Monmouth County, civilian law enforcement and the courts were non-functional . The New Jersey Legislature stepped in to fill the breach; seizing on the example in neighboring Pennsylvania, it established a new Council of Safety on March 15, 1777. The New Jersey Council of Safety was a twelve-man board chaired by Governor William Livingston. Its appointed members included Dr. Nathaniel Scudder of Freehold. The Council would investigate the conduct of New Jerseyans suspected of undermining the New Jersey government or working against the Continental war effort. The Council had the power to overrule local government officials, call the Legislature into session, and detain enemies of the state. A subsequent law gave the Council the ability to appoint and remove local officials, but this controversial new power caused the Legislature to time-limit the Council’s existence to one-year from this expansion of power (to September 20, 1778). Council of Safety Early Docket Dominated by Monmouth County Cases The Council began meeting in early April 1777. It immediately focused on Monmouth County—which dominated the Council’s docket through the month. The Council’s earliest examinations concerned the Loyalist associations that fed the Loyalist insurrections in Upper Freehold , Freehold-Middletown , and Shrewsbury down the shore in December 1776. Depositions were taken regarding the conduct of Loyalist leaders, and lists of disaffected followers were compiled. The council also took an interest in the failed attempt of Samuel Wright and Henry Weatherby to raise recruits for the (Loyalist) New Jersey Volunteers . After amassing testimony against him, Weatherby was detained and brought before the Council on April 26; in exchange for signing a loyalty oath and posting a £300 bond for his future good behavior, he was released. Wright remained at large and was never brought before the Council. Only a few of the Loyalists and disaffected named in the depositions were brought before the Council. The rest were, presumably, administered loyalty oaths locally. The first Monmouth Countian punished by the Council of Safety was not Weatherby, but Moses Mount of Upper Freehold. The Council sent him to the Burlington County jail on April 10 for “maliciously and falsely saying and doing things encouraging disaffection... spreading false rumors concerning the American forces." Six days later, Mount petitioned for clemency: Your petitioner being sensible of his past misconduct and with a sincere heart that wishes well to the American cause, he begs your Excellency & Honorable House would favor him with another hearing & he hopes to convince your Excellency that his past misconduct was not so much owing to himself as to some designing people. Mount testified against other disaffected and was released. He supported the Revolution afterward. On April 10, after hearing from Moses Mount, the Council began considering Upper Freehold Loyalist associations led by Richard Robins and Anthony Woodward. It heard a confession from Thomas Fowler, a Loyalist insurrectionary recently captured by the Whig, Lewis Bestedo, and from Bestedo himself. It also heard from prominent Whigs Abraham Hendricks, William Imlay, and Alexander Montgomery of Upper Freehold. All three men gave testimony against members of the Woodward family. The evidence from these witnesses led the Council to declare that two prisoners, Jesse Woodward and Richard Robins, had committed treason; they were sent to prison in far-off Sussex County. Ring-leader Anthony Woodward was not tried because he was behind British Lines—though the Council would try and convict him of treason in June 1778 when he was captured. The Council was also concerned with the conduct of Captain Henry Waddle of Freehold. Waddle was an active militia leader early in the war—the first man to march the Monmouth militia outside the county (to defend Amboy from a rumored British attack in July 1776). He apparently became disaffected in the latter months of 1776. With Joseph Leonard, they hid Monmouth County’s records from the new County Clerk, Kenneth Anderson. The records ended up in the hands of Loyalists during the December 1776 insurrections and were lost to the new Monmouth County government. On April 11, Waddle responded to a summons to appear before the Council stating that a gout flare-up prevented his travel: I am extremely unhappy in being prevented by a severe fit of gout (which I am now confined in my room) from waiting on your Excellency & Council, as I think I can clear myself to the satisfaction of every one injurious suspicion. I hope your Excellency & Council will favour me with the reasons which they have for suspecting me & with the name of the accuser, that I may come prepared for my defence. Waddle never voluntarily appeared before the Council. He was arrested on July 19 and detained for five weeks. On August 30 he appeared before the Council, signed a loyalty oath to the New Jersey Government, and was released. Later in April, the Council tried four of Middletown’s most prominent pre-war citizens—John Taylor, James Grover, Daniel Hendrickson (of Middletown, not Shrewsbury’s militia Colonel), and Revaud Kearny. Taylor, who led the Middletown Loyalist insurrection, sought to get his friend, Grover, excused from appearing before the Council. This was despite the admission that Grover administered British protection papers during the Loyalist insurrection: He [Grover] still continues in a poor state of health, I am told has not been out of his house since he was taken; he has been a friend of the American cause, and I believe he is still so, which, if I am not misinformed, he can bring convincing proofs of. I am told he is accused of taking submissions, which I believe to be a fact, he is situated on the water and if he refused, he might have been taken prisoner himself. He did sign certificates as a Magistrate and had been one of many years, tho' he had often told me that when a new commission was issued, he would not qualify [refuse office]. He is a man of seventy years, has taken oath before Genl. Putnam, and is expected to remain quiet with his family. Kearney was charged with "maliciously and advisedly reviling the Honorable Congress of the United States and of measures adopted by the same Congress… and encouraging disaffection & manifestly tending to raise tumults and disorders in the State of New Jersey." Taylor and Kearney appeared before the Council, posted bonds for their future good behavior, and were released. Grover, having already taken an oath, was not compelled to appear before the Council. Kearney went home to Keyport, where he retired from public life, but remained openly disaffected. His diary notes several wagers with leading Whigs over the outcomes of war-related events. Council of Safety Continues to Hear Monmouth County Cases Inevitably, the Council would be forced to consider the fate of the 200+ Monmouth Countians jailed in Philadelphia and Fredericktown, Maryland . The first prisoner considered was John Throckmorton of Colts Neck (Shrewsbury Township). He was a junior officer in the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers before being captured in late 1776, On May 23, John’s father, Joseph Throckmorton, petitioned the Council "on behalf of his son… praying that he might be indulged so far as to have his son removed into this State & confined at his home in Colt's Neck.” Despite offering to post a massive £3,000 for his son’s release the Council never acted on the request. John was likely involved in a prisoner exchange late that year. He rejoined the British Army only to be captured again. Starting in late 1777, the Council started permitting relatives of jailed Loyalists, if they posted bonds, to bring their kin back from Fredericktown. The Council also considered and ultimately supported a plan to recruit jailed Monmouth Loyalists into David Forman’s Additional Regiment —a time-consuming initiative that yielded only three recruits. The Council intervened on behalf of one the prisoners, Jacob Cooper, by awarding him prisoner of war status, "as it appeared that he had joined the enemy & was enlisted with them before publication of the act for punishing traitors." As a prisoner of war, Cooper would be jailed with British soldiers rather than common criminals, and would be subject to prisoner exchange (prior to exchange, Cooper was paroled home to Shrewsbury after Thomas Curtis of Shrewsbury posted a bond pending good behavior.) Twice, on December 12, 1777 and on May 29, 1778, the Council of Safety authorized the Monmouth County Sheriff (Asher Holmes) to send Loyalist women into British lines. The husbands of the nine women included Maj. John Antill of the New Jersey Volunteers and two men who would become infamous Loyalist partisans later in the war (John Tilton and Clayton Tilton). It is unclear if the women requested to go to New York or were exiled. Council of Safety Banishes and Returns Richard Waln Quakers posed a challenge for the Council of Safety, and New Jersey authorities more broadly. Strict Quakers refused militia service or even paying militia fines—this put them at odds with the new government. But they were also non-violent and not necessarily a threat to the Revolution. Richard Waln, a millowner from Upper Freehold, is an example of a Quaker who was considered by the Council of Safety more than once. In October 1777, Waln was brought before the Council, where he refused to take an oath to the New Jersey government. As punishment, he was banished to British lines (recently-captured Philadelphia). Waln spent eight months there. On June 17, 1778, as the British were quitting the city, Elizabeth Drinker wrote of Waln leaving for New York City: “Richard Waln took leave of us this day… have gone on board one of ye vessels, as also have many of ye inhabitants.” In August, Waln sought to return home to New Jersey, writing the Council of Safety: When your Petitioner was in Philadelphia (where he had permission to go) he received a message from several Gentlemen in high office in New Jersey informing him that he may come back upon taking the test [loyalty oath]. That being willing to comply herewith & not withstanding any offense, it came that your petitioner has since understood that an application to your Board is necessary -- He therefore requests that you will permit him to return home to his family & estate in New Jersey, & he will detain himself as a good subject. On August 25, the Council of Safety agreed that Richard Waln could return home if he posted a bond, stayed with his family in Upper Freehold, and agreed to answer any charges against him at the next Monmouth Court of Oyer & Terminer. He was put under supervision of Lt. Colonel Elisha Lawrence (not the Loyalist of the same name). Waln weathered the next five years without serious incident, even hosting a party of sailors walking across New Jersey after a daring escape from prison in New York. Waln was again in trouble with his neighbors at war’s end. Both houses of the legislature read petitions against him on May 28, 1783. The minutes of the Assembly record that the petitioners set forth: The great inconveniences that arise to them and others from an obstruction of the floating or rafting of lumber down Crosswicks Creek, occasioned by the mill dam of Richard Waln; and praying leave to present a bill to oblige the said Richard Waln to make proper waterways for rafts to go through. The petitioners were invited to make their case at the next session of legislature. Council of Safety Gives Way to County Courts As 1777 progressed, New Jersey’s counties returned to convening their courts and punishing criminals. The Council of Safety increasingly meted out temporary punishments pending a regular trial in the county courts. On December 7, the Council of Safety authorized the first Monmouth County Court of Oyer and Terminer (the court that heard political and capital crimes) to meet on January 20, 1778. In 1778, the Council of Safety’s activities tailed off as county courts re-assumed their historical role. When its authorization expired on September 20, 1778, there was no move in the legislature to re-authorize it. The Council ceased to exist. Perspective The New Jersey Council of Safety was a useful stopgap put in place during a time period in which the courts were not functioning in much of the State. Its broad powers and lack of accountability to the citizenry made liberty-living New Jersians suspicious of it. However, in balance, the Council carried itself with transparency (including published minutes) and moderation. Ultimately, the Council considered the political crimes of 47 Monmouth Countians; more than half of these deliberations occurred in April-May 1777. See table in the Appendix of this article. In all but a few cases, the punishments were lenient—most of the political criminals were released upon taking a Loyalty oath or posting a bond. This is consistent with the generally lenient policies of the Continental and British governments in the first half of the war, both of which declared general amnesties for ordinary citizens who were lured into bad conduct by the devious lies of the other side. Related Historic Site : The Grover House (home of James Grover) Appendix: Monmouth Countians Brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety See t able 2 . Sources : New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Council of Safety, Deposition of William Sands; New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War documents, #32, Deposition of Samuel Knott; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, depositions and examinations regarding Henry Weatherby; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Examinations of John Longstreet and Peter Schenck re Henry Weatherby; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Examination of Sundry Persons; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #34; Undated receipts and documents, New Jersey Council of Safety, New Jersey State Archives, box 2; Deposition of Thomas Potter, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 4, April 7, 1777; New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #36642-36644; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #74; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 301; New York Public Library, Diaries Collection, Revaud Kearney; Henry Waddle to New Jersey Council of Safety, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 4, April 11, 1777; Henry Waddle to William Livingston, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, pp. 302, 305; Deposition, Alexander Montgomery, New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War Documents, #28; Deposition, William Imlay, New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War Documents, #29; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 22. Peter Coldham, American Loyalists Claims: Abstracted from the Public Record Office (Washington, DC: National Genealogical Society, 1980) p 360; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 23; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 1, #64. New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 4, April 16, 1777; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, p 300-1; William Livingston to Monmouth County Gaolkeeper, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 4, April 16, 1777; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 24-5; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 24; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 24-5; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 25; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 26; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 27; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 28; John Taylor to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 1, #65; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 29; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 30-2; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 31; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 33; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 34; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 35-6; Cornelius G. Vermeule, "The Active New Jersey Loyalists," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, LII (1934), p88; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 36; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 37. Jones, E. Alfred. The Loyalists of New Jersey, (Newark, N. J. Historical Society, 1927) p 135; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 37; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 37-8; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 38; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 38; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 7; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 41-2; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Thomas Woodward; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 50-1; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 54; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 50, 53; John Stillwell, Historical and Genealogical Miscellany (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) v5, p104-5; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 55-6; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 55-6; David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 92; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 59; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, pp. 311 note; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 60; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 94, 127-8; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 102; John Jordan, Colonial and Revolutionary Families of Pennsylvania: Genealogical and Personal Memoirs (New York: Lewis Publishing, 1911) v. 2, p804; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 143-4; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 159; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 163-4; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 164, 168; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 172; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 59, 64; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, p 514; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 195; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 239; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 242; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 243; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 245; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 251; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p202-3; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 253; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 249-50, 254; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 264; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 243; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) pp. 268-70; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 271; Minutes of the Provincial Congress and the Council of Safety of the State of New Jersey 1775-1776 (Ithaca: Cornell University Library, 2009) p 7; Richard C. Haskett, “Prosecuting the Revolution,” in American Historical Review, vol. 49 (April 1954), pp. 582-4; Hunt, Agnes, Provincial Committees of Safety of the American Revolution, (Cleveland: Western Reserve University Press, 1904) pp. 79-82. 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 > Militia from Other Counties Ordered into Monmouth by Michael Adelberg From his home, Liberty Hall, Gov. William Livingston considered Monmouth County’s security. Between 1779-1781, he often called up militia from other counties to march to Monmouth’s defense. - January 1779 - As noted in a prior article, ongoing pleas for assistance from Governor William Livingston and other New Jersey leaders through 1778 finally convinced George Washington to send a sizable body of troops into Monmouth County in January 1779. This led to a succession of regiments going into the county in the first half of 1779, under colonels Caleb North, Mordecai Gist, and Benjamin Ford. New Jersey militia from other counties had come into Monmouth County on a few occasions prior to this. These early deployments are detailed in an appendix to this article. But, in January 1779, just as George Washington was determining that Continental troops had to be sent into Monmouth County, the New Jersey government was reaching the same conclusion about sending militia from other counties into Monmouth County. Sending Militia from Other Counties in Monmouth County in 1779 On January 15, 1779, the Legislature’s upper house, the Legislative Council, called on Governor Livingston: The Council advises his Excellency to call two classes of the militia from Burlington, one class from Hunterdon, one class from Middlesex and one class from the militia of Monmouth County, to be stationed under the command and in such parts of Monmouth County as Colonel Asher Holmes shall think best. The same day, Livingston wrote Colonel Asher Holmes, leading Monmouth County’s largest militia regiment: “Having been unsuccessful in my applications to General Washington for some Continental troops to relieve your militia," he would call out militia from Middlesex, Hunterdon and Burlington "to be stationed under your command & in such parts of Monmouth County as you shall think best." In response to this order, Burlington militia entered southern Monmouth County. Private John Jones of the Burlington Militia was killed in a skirmish with Pine Robbers at Cedar Creek Bridge, at the southern tip of Monmouth County, in February 1779. Militia turnout beyond this company of Burlington militia was apparently minimal. On March 1, Governor William Livingston wrote the colonels of the Burlington, Hunterdon and Middlesex Militia to chastise them for the weak response to the January order: I find by the return of men who came ordered as a guard for the County of Monmouth by my letter of the 15th of January last, so great a deficiency in the compliment required as really reflects disgrace on the Country. I hope that in procuring the relief [militia companies], your utmost efforts will be exerted, that whatever disgrace may be due the men for their backwardness in assisting a neighboring County more perilously exposed to the enemy. Militia from the same counties were again called out to report to Asher Holmes in Monmouth County. Some Middlesex County responded to Livingston’s second order. Dennis McCormick of that county recalled serving at Long Branch in spring 1779 while other men from his regiment went to Elizabethtown: “the regiment to which he belonged was divided, a part was at Long Branch on the sea shore and the part to which he belonged was at Elizabethtown." It is unclear if any other militia responded to the call. But it is clear that there was no short-term punishment for ignoring orders. At least one Middlesex Company refused to march into Monmouth County in February 1779. Middlesex County court martial records reveal that four officers were cashiered, including: "Lieutenant David Galliard of Col Scudder's Regiment, for disobeying orders, in not marching with Captain Perrine for the relief of Captain Stout, when stationed in Monmouth, February 1779." However, these court martials occurred more than two years after the fact—in March 1781. On May 1, a frustrated Governor Livingston wrote General Washington about the poor turnout. He blamed insufficient patriotism, low wages, and weak fines for skipping service. He wrote that without better pay and stiffer fines “they [militia] will not come out to any purpose in monthly service." That same day, the Council voted to raise militia wages and directed the Governor to call out nine militia companies to guard shores of Bergen, Essex, Middlesex and Monmouth—facing British-held New York. On May 25, the Council received a report on militia deployments. It was noted that militia companies from Gloucester, Cumberland, and Salem counties had arrived in Monmouth County. However, those militia companies did not stay long. On June 7, Livingston ordered those companies north to Elizabethtown in response to a threatened British attack. With the defenses of Monmouth County again weakened, Loyalists attacked the village Tinton Falls, the Whig outpost closest to Sandy Hook on June 10. They burned the village and captured all of its senior militia officers. The New Jersey Assembly responded by passing an act to raise 1,000 State Troops for six months continuous service. One of the two regiments would be stationed in Monmouth County under Colonel Holmes. By any measure, the attempts to defend Monmouth County in 1779 with militia from other counties were disappointing. Few militia answered the call, and some of those that did were quickly transferred elsewhere. Efforts to protect Monmouth County with Continental troops were also generally unsuccessful. Monmouth County remained vulnerable to external raiders and internal Loyalist gangs. Later Calls for Militia Assistance On December 23, 1779, Governor Livingston called out 60 militia from Hunterdon and Burlington to join Monmouth militia in defending the county. He wrote Asher Holmes that the militia would "be stationed as a guard under your command in said County of Monmouth, for the defense of the frontiers thereof.” The results were again disappointing. On March 10, Holmes wrote Livingston stating that his letters to the colonels of those counties "have not received any answer of them, neither has a man from either county come to our assistance.” Holmes continued: The full quota of our county has been on duty since the receipt of the order, which is the only men we have to guard our frontiers, which is a very extensive one, and in no degree equal to the task. The men are almost all worn out with the hard duty and inhabitants very uneasy as they daily expect a visit from the enemy, and have earnestly requested me to let your Excellency know of our defenseless situation. Livingston tried again. He wrote a new order to the colonels of the Hunterdon, Burlington and Middlesex militias on March 18 ordering out one class from each county for Monmouth County. He further wrote: If the calling out of one class does not produce thirty men, you are to call on a second and so on till the number is completed. Tho' the last call on your county proved totally ineffectual and not a single man was sent in to assist in defending a county exposed to the incursions of the enemy, it is expected that this call will meet with a punctual compliance, especially as the wages of both officers and men, as well as fines for disobeyance, are lately increased. That same day, the New Jersey Assembly voted to triple the size of fines for militia delinquency. It is unknown if militia answered the call, but on May 19, the New Jersey Legislature received a new petition from Monmouth County requesting "a number of militia to guard the frontiers of said county." The Council advised Governor Livingston "to order out forty men from each regiment of militia in the county of Burlington and thirty from each Regiment in Hunterdon, and eighty men from each regiment in the militia of Monmouth; to be relieved by a like number from the counties of Gloucester, Salem and Cumberland." The men would be placed under the command of Asher Holmes. Two months later, on July 17, Governor Livingston wrote every New Jersey militia colonel calling out one company of militia to rally at Morristown and support the Continental Army in resisting a British incursion. Colonel Samuel Forman of Upper Freehold, who was responsible for guarding Monmouth County’s lower shore, requested to be excused. He sent the Governor a petition noting the vulnerable state of the Monmouth shore and a personal letter on the county’s continued troubles. He wrote: It is not possible for the inhabitants of this county to prevent the frequent ravages of the enemy. They have been in Shrewsbury twice since the petition. They followed the rear of my scout, not exceeding a half hour's march. I wish the Governor and Privy Council may give what orders they think proper, but 500 men will not be equal to the task. In two skirmishes last week, our men retook the horses of the Enemy took from the neighborhood of Monmouth Court House and wounded one Negro. Yesterday, the enemy got their plunder: lost one man killed. Livingston granted Forman’s request. On October 7, the New Jersey Legislature again called on Governor Livingston to call out 150 militia from nearby counties "for the defense of the frontiers of the County of Monmouth.” The order acknowledged that militia “has not been furnished to that service, whereby the inhabitants of that quarter have been greatly exposed & harassed by parties of the enemy." Two months later, David Brearley of Upper Freehold, while serving as Chief Justice of the state’s Supreme Court asked Governor Livingston to send another company to guard the Monmouth County jail at Freehold because: We received information last Sunday that a party of refugees was over, to the amount of thirty, but could not learn their designs. Yesterday we were informed that they were within a few miles of us, lying in the edge of the pines just south of this place, sixteen of them have been seen in a body from which I was led to believe that the court and prisoners in gaol were their object... I ordered the guard to be increased to fifty men, so that if they should attempt anything, I hope we shall be able to give a good account of them. Livingston called out a company of Burlington militia. Orders to assist Monmouth County continued. The Middlesex County Militia Refuses to Help In 1781, the near-constant requests for help from Monmouth County produced pushback. On February 21, 1781, Colonel William Scudder of the Middlesex County militia (and brother of Nathaniel Scudder, Monmouth’s most prominent political leader ) complained about the continual assignments in Monmouth County. He said his men are "conceiving themselves injured by being obliged to do the duty of other counties" and he called for "a more equitable plan for calling out the militia." Four Middlesex County veterans pensioners recalled service in Monmouth County in the latter years of the war. Catherine Ashton, widow of Isaac Ashton, wrote of her husband’s service in the summer of 1780 to patrol “along the Amboy and Monmouth shore.” Samuel Grove recalled that in spring 1781 he “served another tour of one month in Monmouth County, where the Tories, Negroes and regular British & Hessians were making terrible ravages.” James Abraham recalled that in June 1781 he was "marched to Middletown in the county of Monmouth at the time the British, near 1500 strong, was out on tour one week." James McGee recalled in early 1782 marching with 31 men "as far along the shore as Middletown where the refugees were murdering and plundering the farmers." Fatigue in the Middlesex County militia from marching into Monmouth County climaxed on March 21, 1781. On that day, at “the Battle of the 1500 ”, more than one thousand British regulars and Loyalists landed near Middletown and marched inland to Pleasant Valley. They gathered up dozens of livestock and took a few prisoners. The Monmouth militia hung on their flanks and skirmished with the massive raiding party, but lacked the strength to resist. The Middlesex militia at Cranbury heard of the raid and refused to help. On June 22, Captain Beatty at Cranbury informed Governor Livingston: We have reason to believe the accounts [from Middletown] coming to this place are untrue… the militia of Monmouth County have been discharged from the field alarms - No fact is fixed however on the authenticity of this report: Col Scudder [of the Middlesex Militia] has thought fit to detain his regiment at this place. Scudder did, however, send a mounted party to Englishtown “to gather more certain intelligence." This prompted a second report that day stating that "Genl. Arnold [Benedict Arnold] has entered Monmouth County with 3,500 men" – which greatly overstated the size of the attack. Citing the dangers of engaging such a fearsome attack, the Cranbury militia again stayed put. Meanwhile, Middlesex militia at Cheesequake (bordering Middletown) did join the fight. Other Militia Activity Beyond the Middlesex militia, Cumberland County militia served in Monmouth County in 1781. John Eldridge of Middletown recalled being sent to a Captain Woods who "had been sent from Cumberland County to relieve in some measure the militia of this County and were totally strangers to this applicant. Besides being a soldier, was a guide to the same." One of these militiamen, Benjamin Smith, recalled being stationed “at Toms River about 30 or 40 miles from Monmouth Court House.” Smith stayed in Monmouth County after his service was up. In 1782, he participated in a campaign against Pine Robbers “where they captured and hung a number of Tories.” Parallel to militia from other counties being stationed in Monmouth County, militiamen put to sea as privateers to take British/Loyalist ships off the Monmouth shore. As early as January 1776, Essex County militia sailed around Sandy Hook to take the stranded British supply ship, Blue Mountain Valley ; Middlesex County privateers, including New Jersey’s greatest privateer, Adam Hyler, successfully attacked British/Loyalist assets around Sandy Hook more than a dozen times. Militia boats from Cape May and Gloucester County battled London Traders and Pine Robbers off the Monmouth shoreline throughout the second half of the war. Also later in the war, militia from Burlington and Gloucester came into Monmouth County for short periods of time in response to Loyalist provocations. The Burlington County militia pursued the Pine Robber gang of John Bacon at least three times. Two militiamen recalled marching north to March 1782 in response to the Loyalist attack on Toms River . John Peters recalled marching to “Toms River in Monmouth County in protecting the inhabitants against the depredations of the refugees.” Enoch Young recalled that, “He marched through the counties of Gloucester and Burlington and Monmouth to Toms River, at the Block House, to assist against the enemy in the engagement there, but was too late, the enemy had fled before they arrived.” Loyalist raids into Monmouth County continued into spring 1782 and Pine Robber gangs operated with impunity along stretches of the shore into 1783. But there is no evidence that militia from other counties were assigned to Monmouth County after 1781. While militia from other counties were, at times, helpful to the security of Monmouth County, more often, they were less than that. Related Historical Site : New Jersey National Guard Museum Appendix: Militia from Other Counties in Monmouth County Prior to 1779 Twice in 1776, in July and again in November , Colonel Charles Read led Burlington County militia into Monmouth County to quell Loyalist insurrections. In the first action, it appears Read’s men did little beyond arresting a few prominent Loyalists in adjacent Upper Freehold township; in the second action, Read’s men went all the way to the Atlantic shore near Shrewsbury, and arrested dozens of men affiliated with Samuel Wright’s Loyalist association . Just two months later, in January 1777, companies of Cumberland and Gloucester County militia entered the county and cooperated with Francis Gurney’s Pennsylvanians to topple the Loyalist insurrections . The service of the Cumberland County company was apparently considerable , as their commander, Major John Davis (along with Gurney), was publicly thanked by Monmouth County’s Nathaniel Scudder in a letter printed in the Pennsylvania Gazette on February 5: To Major John Davis of the Cumberland County Militia, I am happy in this opportunity of presenting my compliments… In short, those detachments have rescued the county from the tyranny of the Tories and put it in the power of their own militia to recover and embody themselves in such a manner as to be able to stand on their own defence. Interestingly, Scudder alluded to some disorder among the Cumberland militia. He gently chided Davis and Gurney to “correct and make amends to the utmost of your powers for those irregularities and errors which are the unavoidable consequences of a march of a detachment of militia in haste as you did, through a country where so many of the inhabitants were inimical to the cause.” The New Jersey militia detachments, while skirmishing and scattering Loyalists in the middle of winter, suffered at least two casualties. Captain McFarland of Cumberland County died at Freehold in February and Private James Malloy of Gloucester County died in a skirmish at Shrewsbury in March. Militia from Middlesex and Cumberland counties returned to Monmouth County in early 1778 and were detached along the shore. William Lloyd joined a Middlesex County company under Captain Nixon "in pursuit of the Refugees of the Pines… [who] broke into the house of a man I knew and killed the man and his wife." Lloyd further noted: [They] secreted themselves in the adjacent pines in the daytime and would come out at night to steal horses (and take them to the British by way of Sandy Hook) and rob the houses of the inhabitants of the neighborhood where they lived. At this time, Armon Davis of Cumberland County was killed in a skirmish in Shrewsbury Township. Roughly one thousand New Jersey Militia from several counties embodied under General Philemon Dickinson and entered Monmouth County immediately prior to the Battle of Monmouth. They played a supporting role in the battle, and melted away (greatly to Dickinson’s disappointment ) shortly after the battle. A month later, the New Jersey government again considered ordering militia into Monmouth County on the first reports on Pine Robber gangs in county. On August 10, 1778, the legislature’s upper house, the Council, called on Governor Livingston to "order out one class of militia from each of the counties of Burlington and Monmouth, to be stationed in Monmouth as Colonel Asher Holmes shall think proper for securing the inhabitants and their property from the enemy and the disaffected persons skulking in the pines." It is not clear if Burlington militia arrived in the county. As discussed earlier in this article, January 1779 was a tipping point in ordering militia from other counties for long term deployment into Monmouth County. Sources : Pennsylvania Gazette, February 17, 1777 (CD-ROM at the David Library, #23302); Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, p 294; Munn, David, Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey, (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, New Jersey Geological Survey, 1976) p 43; John C. Dann, The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980) pp 135-16; David C. Munn, comp., Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey (Trenton, N.J.: Department of Environmental Protection, Bureau of Geology, 1976) pp. 95-7; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 83-4; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 112-3; William Livingston to Asher Holmes, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 9, January 15, 1779; Munn, David, Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey, (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, New Jersey Geological Survey, 1976) p 135; William Livingston to Burlington, Hunterdon and Middlesex Miliia Colonels, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, p 41; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Dennis McCormick of Middlesex Co, www.fold3.com/image/#24210668 ; William Livingston to George Washington, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 79-80; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 116-7; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 99, 106-7, 112; New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 10, December 23, 1779 and March 10, 1780; William Livingston to Militia Colonels, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 339-40; William Livingston to Asher Hollmes, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 3, pp. 326-7; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, May 13 and May 20, 1780, p 187-195; David Bernstein, Minutes of the Governor's Privy Council, 1777-1789 (Trenton: New Jersey State Library, Archives and History Bureau, 1974) p 149; Samuel Forman to William Livingston, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, pp. 12, 28-9; Journals of the Legislative Council of New Jersey (Isaac Collins: State of New Jersey, 1780) p124; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 4 and 7, 1780, p 2293-298; David Fowler, Egregious Villains, Wood Rangers, and London Traders (Ph.D. Dissertation: Rutgers University, 1987) p 243; David Bearley to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 13, December 26, 1780; William Scudder to William Livingston, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, p 148; Militia Court Martial documents, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, p 162; Thomas Beatty to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 15, June 22, 1781; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Enoch Young of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 24155756; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Eldridge; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Benjamin Smith of NY, www.fold3.com/image/# 16808699. 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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 Capture of the Brigantine, Britannia by Michael Adelberg On December 29, 1779, Middletown-men captured the stranded British ship, Britannia. They rowed the cargo of the vessel to shore. The men profited handsomely from the capture. Image credit: The Middletown Militia Secures their Prize © Steve Schreiber, 2023 Commissioned by Monmouth Timeline Inc. - December 1779 - As noted in prior articles, starting in 1779, New York-bound British/Loyalist ships with valuable cargo were vulnerable to capture from New England privateers because of the weakened British naval presence at Sandy Hook. Further, local militia officers opportunistically took vulnerable British/Loyalist vessels that grounded off the Monmouth shore. So, perhaps it was only a matter of time before local militia officers would have the opportunity to take a valuable vessel near the British base at Sandy Hook. The Capture of the Britannia The Britannia was a Loyalist privateer captained by Jonathan Stout and recently arrived from a Caribbean port with a cargo of that included coffee and sugar, high value products in short supply in New Jersey. The brigantine carried 16 cannon and 4 swivel guns. According to a number of secondary accounts, the Britannia was anchored inside of Sandy Hook when, on December 28, 1779, it broke loose from its moorings. The ship grounded in shallow water near present-day Keansburg. Ice around the guard ship at Sandy Hook prevented the British from helping the distressed ship; Britannia was quickly frozen in place and soon made helpless. On December 29, the Britannia was spotted by a company of state troops (militia on long term assignment) and Middletown Militia, both reporting to Colonel Asher Holmes. They captured the ship without a fight. The cargo and munitions of the ship were rowed to shore. The ice soon thawed enough for Holmes to the Britannia taken 20 miles east to Cheesequake Creek, where the prize would be less susceptible to British recapture. The capture of the Britannia was important enough for Colonel Lewis Nicola, at Egg Harbor, to notify the Continental Congress on January 12, 1780. He reported: A dismasted twenty gun brig called the Britannia on shore at the west bank [of Sandy Hook]. The Jersey people have got the guns and stores out of the former; it is not possible for any vessel or boat to go from New York Harbor to the relief of the vessels on shore. The Britannia was taken by a company of State Troops drawn mostly from Middletown Township. The company was officered by Captain Samuel Carhart, Lieutenant John Schenck, Ensign Peter Vanderhoff, Sergeant Jacob Allen, Corporal Burrowes Norris, Drummer Samuel Smith, and 27 privates. Additional Middletown militia under Lieutenant Barnes Smock were present (nephew of the captain of the same name). Some accounts credit Colonel Holmes with leading the capture, but, based on primary sources, it is unlikely that Holmes was there at the moment of capture. A half-dozen Monmouth militiamen mention the capture of the Britannia in their post-war veterans’ pension applications. Three participated in the capture: Cornelius Smock recalled that the Britannia “went ashore in a snowstorm at Conkaskunk, and her commander surrendered her to his brother, Lt. Barnes J. Smock, who then commanded said company." Adam Striker recalled that he "was present at the capture of the Britannia , a British brig which was driven ashore near Point Comfort... the ship capitulated." Cornelius Vanderhoff recalled being stationed "at Conkaskunk Cove" when the ship was taken. After the Capture Three other militiamen (or their widows) recalled activities after the capture. Sergeant James Wall recalled that he “was appointed one of an escort to conduct a party of British marines, taken from the British brig Britannia , that was enclosed in the ice near the Monmouth shore, to Elizabethtown, but that on my way there, my horse slipt [sic] on the ice & fell, fracturing my leg in his fall.” Derrick Sutphin's widow, Altche Sutphin, recalled that "part of her rigging & contents were kept at his house for safekeeping." Philip Freneau, who would become known as the “Poet of the American Revolution ,” recalled receiving “$800 in Continental money as his share of the British Brig Britannia – of which $120 was shortly after paid for a pair of shoes." On January 13, 1780, the New Jersey Gazette advertised the capture of the Britannia with a cargo and supplies at the home of Garret Schenk of Middletown. The cargo of beef, pork, coffee, sugar, powder, lead, muskets, and swords, and the hull of the Britannia would be offered for sale. The following week the Gazette advertised that the sale would occur on January 27 at Garret Schenck’s house in Middletown. It said: “to be sold the cargo and also the hull of the brig Britannia, now laying near Cheesequake Creek." Interestingly, the Britannia 's 16 cannon and 4 swivels would be sold at Burlington on January 31. This suggests that it was too dangerous to keep and sell these war materials on the Monmouth shore, where they could be retaken by Loyalist raiders. Indeed, Loyalists in New York were re-organizing into new groups like the Associated Loyalists and the Black Brigade precisely so that they could be nimble in raising parties for raiding opportunities. Subsequent advertisements in the New Jersey Gazette suggest that the Admiralty Court might not have condemned the Britannia before these advertised sales. A January 24 advertisement wrote of a coming Admiralty Court at Gilbert Barton’s tavern in Allentown, under Judge John Imlay, to consider claims on the vessel from Colonel Holmes and Samuel Dennis, a Shrewsbury militia captain. It is possible that Dennis was contesting rights to the prize. On March 15, the New Jersey Gazette advertised a sale on March 27 at the house of Cornelius Van Dorn in Middletown for “the sails, rigging, and small arms of the Brig Britannia… lately captured by Col. [Asher] Holmes and others." Samuel Dennis advertised the sale—suggesting that the admiralty court awarded the prize to Holmes, but that Holmes then deputized (and paid) Dennis to dispose of the vessel’s remaining items. While the vessel was condemned to Holmes, he divided the prize money with his men. On March 5, 1780, the proceeds were divided. Colonel Holmes received 11 ¼ shares of the prize. Other officers received between 3-9 shares based on rank. The enlisted men received 2/3 of one share. It appears that a share was valued at roughly £300, a huge amount of money for a small farmer (a good horse cost roughly £20, a daily wage to a laborer was about £1). It is unknown how the proceeds of the final March 27 sale were divided among the men. The New Jersey Legislature later paid Sergeant Wall an additional £10 S2 for "going to Elizabethtown with the prisoners taken on board the brig, Britannia and so forth." The Britannia was one of perhaps a dozen prizes taken by local militia and state troops. It was clearly among the more valuable and better documented of those captures. The capture shows how state troops drawn from Monmouth County and local militia operated seamlessly, in contrast to the clear delineation between Continental troops and militia. The complicated post-capture documentation includes several sales and admiralty court notices; this demonstrates that cash windfalls generated interests and intrigues that tested New Jersey’s nascent institutions. While the division of the Britannia was apparently amicable, other prizes were the subject of prolonged litigation and contested for years. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : Maureen Foster, The Capture of the British Privateer Britannia by the Middletown Militia, ( https://monmouthtimeline.org/timeline/capture-of-britannia/ ); Return of State Troops, National Archives, Revolutionary War Rolls, New Jersey, folder 58, #125; Information on the capture of the brig Britannia in Robert Van Benthuysen, "Philip Freneau: The War Years", Monmouth County Historical Association Newsletter, Spring 1978, n. 3, p1; Capture of the Brig Britannia in National Archives, Collection 881, R 593; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Adam Stricker; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Derrick Sutphin; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, pp. 136-7; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, James Wall of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 20365301; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Cornelius Vanderhoff; National Archives, Philip Freneau, W.23069, State of New Jersey, Monmouth County; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Derrick Sutphin; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Cornelius Smock; Receipt, National Archives, Collection 881, R 593; Lewis Nicola to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 187, item 169, #191; Lewis Nicola to Congress, National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, M247, I63, Letters from General & Other Officers, p 188; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, pp. 136-7.; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 4, p 147; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930. 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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 > Sandy Hook Becomes Haven for Loyalists by Michael Adelberg Major Robert Bayard was the East India Tea Company’s agent in New York City. He was one of the first New York City Loyalists to join the British at Sandy Hook. - May 1776 - With the British Navy in possession of Sandy Hook, on the northeast tip of Monmouth County, it is not surprising that this British base became a magnet for active Loyalists and those disaffected from the Continental movement. Even before the Declaration of Independence, Sandy Hook was becoming a haven for New York and New Jersey Loyalists. The earliest documentation of local Loyalists heading to Sandy Hook is a May 7 letter to the New York Committee of Safety from Joseph Blanchard, a merchant from New York City. Blanchard was summoned by the Committee “under an accusation of carrying on a communication with some of the seamen on board the ships lying near Sandy-Hook.” Blanchard admitted to going on board the British ship, Asia , but claimed it was only to settle debts with a New York Loyalist already on board that ship. He swore that he exchanged no intelligence with the Loyalist or Royal Governor William Tryon, who was also at Sandy Hook: Not one word of news, or anything about politicks, was ever hinted either from him to me, or me to him, in any letter that passed between us. As to the Governour, I never wrote him one word, nor ever received any kind of message from him of any kind whatsoever. Interestingly, Blanchard sought to offer military intelligence on the British forces at Sandy Hook to “the Jersey officers” under Lord Stirling that he saw when leaving the Hook. “I knew the contents, and went several times to my Lord's on purpose to deliver him the letter, but could not see him.” In essence, Blanchard’s testimony suggests that he went to the British navy and offered no intelligence, then he attempted to pass intelligence to Continental officers, but they would not see him. This strains the credibility of Blanchard’s testimony. He would become a Loyalist. While Joseph Blanchard may have been the first Loyalist lured to Sandy Hook, Moses Kirkland was the most extraordinary case. Kirkland was a South Carolinian who was “confined in the said jail by order of the Honorable Congress, for practices inimical to this country.” Kirkland escaped and headed for Sandy Hook. A May 15 Virginia Gazette report on Kirkland noted: “he crossed over Delaware at Cooper's ferry last night” and was heading for the British squadron, now at Sandy Hook. A number of newspapers from Virginia to New York printed advertisements that described Kirkland’s appearance and offered rewards for his capture. The New York’s Constitutional Gazette , for example, offered the headline: “Stop a Tory, One Hundred Dollars Reward.” The report suggested that Kirkland had escaped confinement in South Carolina and Philadelphia, and concluded that "he will either endeavor to get on board one of the men of war in the [Hudson] river or at Sandy Hook." It is probable that women were among the New York Loyalists visiting the British ships at Sandy Hook. On June 2, the New York Provincial Congress heard testimony that a Ms. Hill and Mrs. Hatch were in “correspondence” with Governor Tryon’s ship at Sandy Hook. They appointed a committee to examine the two women and anyone else necessary to determine if the women were secretly visiting the British or passing written intelligence. After conducting several interviews, the Committee informed the Provincial Congress that they were “of the opinion that the suspicions against those persons [Hill and Hatch] are not well-founded." The trickle of Loyalists soon increased. On June 19, three of New York’s leading Loyalists--Oliver DeLancey, Charles Apthorpe, and Major Robert Bayard-- left New York City in a canoe and paddled down to Sandy Hook to seek protection on British naval vessels. According to DeLancey, the escape was to avoid a summons to appear before the New York Provincial Congress on the 20th. In a few weeks, the influx of Loyalists from Monmouth County would dwarf the trickle of Loyalists from New York; other New York Loyalists would seek refuge among Monmouth County’s disaffected in Shrewsbury township. Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 5, p1230; Virginia Gazette, May 17, 1776; Constitutional Gazette (New York), May 15, 1776; Peter Force, American Archives, (Force and Clarke: Washington, DC, 1837) Series 4, vol. 6, P1359 and 1363; Bruce Bliven, Under the Guns, New York 1775-1776 (New York: Harper & Row, 1972) p 320; Sabine, W.H.W., Suppressed History of General Nathaniel Woodhull (NewYork: Colburn& Tegg,1954) p 167.. Previous Next