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 William and Anne and Post-Capture Maneuvering by Michael Adelberg The William & Anne resembled this British brigantine. In July 1777, it grounded on the Monmouth shore and was taken. It took months to determine who had rights to sell the vessel. - August 1777 - As discussed in prior articles, the large British Army in New York required continuous re-provisioning. This meant that an unprecedented number of ships were entering New York harbor via Sandy Hook. Many of those ships were captained by officers navigating the unmarked waters near Sandy Hook for the first time. Groundings and ship seizures were inevitable—the first one occurring in 1775. Over the course of the war, opportunistic American privateers and shore-neighborhood militia companies proved themselves adept at preying on vulnerable British shipping. The Capture of the William & Anne In spring 1777, a British brig from the Caribbean bound for New York beached near Long Branch. The crew came ashore looking for provisions. A local militiaman, William Applegate, recalled that the crew was “captured by Capt. Morgan who surprised the crew resorting on the shore procuring provisions & thereby became possessed of the vessel, they having negligently left no guard on board except one sick man.” The vessel “was armed & had sugar aboard.” Probably informed by Loyalists who went to Sandy Hook, the next day “2 English armed vessels and attempted to regain” the brig and its valuable cargo. Local militia arrived in time to reinforce Morgan and defend the prize. John Howland, a militia sergeant, recalled: They were ordered to defend her [the beached brig]. They had a piece of artillery mounted on a turret threw upon her, which they defended the brig until they got the sugar out, they were found only among the vessel for the best part of a day. A similar and better-documented incident would occur two months later off of Deal. On July 28, 1777, the New York Gazette & Weekly Mercury , a Loyalist newspaper, printed a brief account about the capture of the merchant vessel, William & Anne : “A brig supposed to be from the West Indies, run ashore last evening at a place called Deal… and the rebels on shore have been seen unloading her." The brig was an ocean-going vessel that had previously made ports of call in Russia and Portugal before heading for the Caribbean. More detail on ship’s capture was provided the in the same newspaper the following week: The brig mentioned in our last to be ashore at Deal, near Sandy Hook, was the prize to the Milford and Thomas frigates; she taken by a rebel privateer and ordered for Boston, and on the voyage was re-taken by the above mentioned frigates, and sent for this port, but the prize master thought proper to call on the coast of New Jersey, where the cargo, consisting of oil, lemons, wine, basil and sugar, was immediately taken ashore and carried up into the country. The key phrase “the prize master thought proper to call on the coast of New Jersey” raises two possibilities. 1.) The prize master, a junior British officer named Jacobs, may have grounded the ship by accident off Deal, where it was taken by rebels; the report sought to downplay this grievous error. 2.) Alternatively, as the story suggests, the prize master may have steered for Deal intentionally because he expected a friendly reception, including picking up a local pilot, along the largely disaffected Shrewsbury Township shoreline. This mystery is solved by a subsequent report in the Pennsylvania Evening Post . On August 15, the newspaper advertised an admiralty court to be held at Gilbert Barton's Tavern in Allentown. The court would hear "the bill of James Morgan, captain of a company of militia… against the brigantine or vessel called the William & Anne , lately commanded by Capt. Jacobs, and taken as a prize by the said Capt. Morgan near Long Branch." The referenced “Capt. Morgan” was James Morgan, a militia captain from the Cheesequake neighborhood of Middlesex County. His militia company consisted largely of Raritan Bay boatmen. When the William & Anne beached, Morgan’s men likely rowed to it and demanded its surrender in the same way that Essex County men rowed to and demanded the surrender of the Blue Mountain Valley in 1776. The residents of Deal, disaffected or not, offered the British no aid. Instead, as they had with the British ship, Good Intent , earlier that year, they willingly unloaded the vessel’s valuable cargo once the ship was secured for a share of the prize. Job Throckmorton of the Monmouth Militia recalled the capture. He recalled that Morgan “imprisoned the crew whilst on shore procuring provisions, and thereby became possessed of the vessel, they having left no crew on board except a sick man.” Throckmorton also recalled an attempt by the British to recover the vessel: “The day after, Captain Morgan became possessed of the brig, an English armed vessel endeavored to reclaim her, but making use of the guns still on board, they eventually drove her off.” After the Capture The William & Anne was certainly not the first vulnerable British ship taken off the Monmouth shore, but it was the first to be formally condemned through New Jersey’s newly-established Admiralty Court . Ownership and rights to prior captured ships, such as the Betsy , bogged down in months of confusing debate over rightful ownership of the ship and its cargo. The admiralty courts were established to hear claims on the vessel and its cargo, and then promptly settle questions of ownership. The court’s appointed agent would then advertise the sale of the vessel and its cargo, attend the sale, and collect fees for the state. Over the next five years, Gilbert Barton’s tavern—likely due to Allentown’s central location—hosted more admiralty courts than any other New Jersey location. Interestingly, the August 15 Evening Post report contradicted a prior announcement in the same newspaper. This prior notice claimed that the William & Anne was already condemned at Freehold, and would be sold at auction at Long Branch on August 5 with “a cargo of sugar, oil, lemons, sumack, figs, wine vinegar, corks, almonds, and wine.” This errant notice suggests that Monmouth Countians had locally determined ownership of the vessel and condemned it to a body “Continental soldiers.” The only Continental soldiers on the Monmouth shore at this time were David Forman’s Additional Regiment . Perhaps David Forman, who was holding extra-legal tribunals for other purposes, condemned the vessel to his troops. This would have placed him at odds with Captain Morgan of the Middlesex militia, but Forman was also the militia general for Monmouth, Middlesex and Burlington counties at the time and the commanding officer over Captain Morgan. Forman could have sent Morgan home. The state’s assertion of the admiralty court’s jurisdiction clarified that a state-appointed Admiralty Court judge would determine the vessel’s rightful owner and the person entitled to the windfall from the sale of the vessel and its cargo. In a final twist on the post-capture maneuvering, the Admiralty Court hearing in August 1777 did not lead to the prompt sale of the William & Anne . The following April, the New Jersey Gazette advertised that the William & Anne would be sold at the house of James Wall in Freehold on May 15. The agent of the Admiralty Court who advertised the sale was David Forman. Related Historical Site : Mystic Seaport Museum (Mystic, CT) Sources : National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Howland of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#27247928 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, William Applegate of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#11273804 ; American War of Independence at Sea - American Privateers: http://www.awiatsea.com/pl/Br/British%20Prizes%20July%201777/William%20and%20Anne%20Brig%20(Edward%20Howe).html ; Archives of the State of New Jersey, Extracts from American Newspapers Relating to New Jersey (Paterson, NJ: Call Printing, 1903) vol. 1, pp. 434, 443-4; William Morgan, Naval Documents of the American Revolution (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1970), vol. 9, p 704; Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 15, 1777; The Library Company, Pennsylvania Evening Post, August 23, 1777; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Job Throckmorton. 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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 Rental of Loyalist Estates by Michael Adelberg Dr. James Boggs lived in Shrewsbury before the war. In December 1776, he became a surgeon in the British Army. His family stayed behind. Despite this, his estate was seized and rented in 1777. - July 1777 - In August 1776, Monmouth County became the first county in New Jersey to inventory the estates of Loyalists who had left to join the British. New Jersey law established a multi-step process through which Loyalists forfeited their estates to the state for resale. First, state-appointed commissioners (in Monmouth County—Kenneth Hankinson, Samuel Forman, and Jacob Wikoff) inventoried the estate; next, a formal inquisition was posted and citizens could make statements regarding the status of the inventoried estate owner; finally, the Forfeiture Commissioners could confiscate and re-sell the estates. While the cash-strapped New Jersey government desperately needed money, land confiscation in an agricultural community was the ultimate penalty; land was the primary route to acquiring wealth. Estate confiscation was tantamount to a final and irreversible break with the Loyalist. In 1777, most Americans clung to a belief that a short war and reconciliation was still possible and were not ready to confiscate estates. Renting Loyalist estates was a way to bring in revenue without the finality of confiscation. Renting Loyalist Estates in Monmouth County According to surviving records, the Forfeiture Commissioners—Hankinson, Forman and Wikoff—rented 34 Loyalist estates in July 1777 and would ultimately rent out 89 estates. Estates rentals raised an impressive £21,000. Monthly rents ranged from £1 to £87 (the estate of Daniel Van Mater , who had purchased a new farm in New York). Estates were rented across Monmouth County’s four northern counties—Freehold, Middletown, Shrewsbury and Upper Freehold. Dover and Stafford township Loyalists were not included in this process. The Loyalists whose estates were rented were a combination of wealthy and modest landholders. While several of the most prominent Loyalists had their estates rented—Colonel John Morris, Colonel George Taylor, Rev. Samuel Cooke—others had their estates temporarily spared—Colonel Elisha Lawrence, Major John Antill. Three families were particularly prone to estate rentals—such as: Van Mater: Daniel Van Mater, Chrineyonce Van Mater, and Henry Van Mater; Taylor: George Taylor, Morford Taylor, John Taylor, and William Taylor; Leonard: John Leonard, Joseph Leonard, and Thomas Leonard. Other families, including those that headed the Loyalist insurrections , such as the Woodwards of Upper Freehold, were conspicuously not included on the list of rented estates. The criteria for estate rental is not easily explained from surviving documents. Determining exactly who was subject to an estate rental was controversial. At the highwater mark of Loyalism in New Jersey, December 1776, many Monmouth Countans lined up behind the British. Many of these fickle Loyalists did not become Loyalist refugees when the British quit New Jersey in January. Authorities were generally lenient toward these fickle men , as long as they were not leaders and were not violent. Still, the dividing line was controversial. On June 2, 1778, the New Jersey Council of Safety received a petition from Monmouth County: Setting forth that a number of persons who had been in the enemy's lines, aiding & assisting them, and who plundered a number of inhabitants when the enemy were last in Trenton, and had returned to their respective homes & being bailed by the Justices & suffered to go at large. The petition was delivered by militia Colonel Asher Holmes along with a list of the "delinquents" and the magistrates who dropped charges against them. The estates of these delinquents would presumably be subject to inventory and rental. The rental of Loyalist estates could become complicated. One case specific to estate rentals rose to the New Jersey Supreme Court in January 1781. In this case, Daniel Randolph, acting as a subcontractor to the Forfeiture Commissioners, charged William Grover with reneging on rents owed. Grover had rented two farms, and later a third farm, from Randolph for £150 a month which "he faithfully did promise to pay." Grover promised to pay the Commissioners £98 of the fees owed. The indictment claimed Grover “has not paid for that one either despite being summoned to pay.” Grover was charged with "not regarding his several promises... contriving to fraud." Grover’s defense and the outcome of the case are unknown. Whatever the complications, the rentals of Loyalist estates raised significant and much-needed cash for the New Jersey government. On October 10, 1778, the New Jersey Assembly recorded receiving £3680 from Samuel Forman, on behalf of Monmouth County’s Forfeiture Commissioners. This was the approximate value of two mid-sized estates if sold at auction, and a larger sum than any county forwarded to the Legislature at that time. Other Loyalist estates were not rented until April 1779 or later, after Loyalist estates were being confiscated and sold at public auction. Later account books demonstrate that well over one hundred Loyalist estates were sold in Monmouth County (different sources have differing totals), so several confiscated Loyalist estates were never rented. Perhaps the Forfeiture Commissioners showed mercy on certain families by delaying or not renting their family estates. After the war, Loyalists applied to the British government for compensation for their lost property. In these applications, virtually every Loyalist discussed and estimated the value of their lost estates. Only one Monmouth Countians, Dr. James Boggs, additionally discussed losses to his family related to the rental of his estate prior to confiscation. Boggs took a British loyalty oath on December 7, 1776 and joined the New Jersey Volunteers as a surgeon. His family stayed behind in Shrewsbury. Despite this, his 111-acre farm in Shrewsbury was rented out in July 1777 (and then confiscated in May 1779). The Boggs family was presumably evicted. The rental of Loyalist estates was an important intermediate step toward confiscating and re-selling Loyalist property. While it aroused some controversies and displaced some Loyalist families, the impacts of estate rentals were small in comparison to what would come later. Related Historic Sites : Nassau Hall Sources : New Jersey State Archives, Commissioners of Forfeited Estates, box 5, folder 4.1; Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 42; Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Great Britain Public Record Office, Loyalist Application Claims, James Boggs, D96, AO 13/17; Auditor’s Book, New Jersey State Archives, Dept of Treasury, Auditor's Account Books, reel 181, pp. 469-72; 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; NJ State Archives: NJ Supreme Court Records, case #32076; 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 245; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 10, 1778, p 192-194. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Loyalist Raids Increase in Frequency by Michael Adelberg The map, “A Fine Foraging County…” shows that Loyalist raiders could navigate Monmouth County, strike their target, and have a good chance of escaping before the militia counter-attack. - May 1779 - The first armed clashes in Monmouth County were skirmishes on Sandy Hook when the British took the peninsula in spring 1776; the first Loyalist raids were launched from Sandy Hook into Monmouth County in spring 1777; the first major military campaign in Monmouth County was in June 1778 (prior to the Battle of Monmouth). Yet for the people of Monmouth County, spring 1779 was more significant than any the prior year. In spring 1779, armed clashes in Monmouth County escalated to civil warfare. While Continental troops were stationed in the county through much of the year , their ability to defend the county was limited. Local militia bore primary responsibility for combatting increasingly prevalent and vindictive Loyalist raiding parties. Several Monmouth militiamen described their hard service in their postwar veteran pension applications. For example, John Matthews wrote of being called out whenever raiding parties “co-operating with the Tories in the county of Monmouth, appeared along the sea coast for the purpose of carrying off & plundering cattle or other provisions.” Matthews wrote of the raiders: “their excursions were very frequent” and militia needed to “immediately lay aside all business at the report of the alarm gun.” (Beacons were used in preference to alarm guns for part of 1779.) Quantifying Armed Clashes Historian David Munn attempted to compile all of the armed clashes that occurred in New Jersey during the American Revolution. His research documents 129 armed clashes occurring in Monmouth County or along its shores. This is more than any other county—and roughly triple the number of any county besides Bergen County. See c hart 2a . Munn’s research also demonstrates that the civil warfare in Monmouth County intensified considerably in 1779. According to Munn, the county hosted 28 armed clashes in 1779 and again in 1780—more than any other years of the war. C hart 2b displays armed clashes in and around Monmouth County by year. While Munn’s compilation is the most comprehensive dataset of Revolutionary War clashes in New Jersey, it is built on newspaper accounts and the personal papers of a small number of leaders. As such, Munn’s tabulations do not include many of the smaller clashes that were only recorded in personal accounts, including the pension applications of militiamen, verbal accounts printed in credible antiquarian sources, and the personal papers of local leaders. Historian Harlow McMillan, who studied raid warfare on Staten Island, noted the undercounting that results from relying on newspapers: "Retaliatory raids were small and sporadic, and many were not reported in the papers." The same statement can be applied to the smaller raids in Monmouth County. Most of the time, smaller raids were not reported in newspapers—and many are not included in Munn’s tabulations. Accounts of armed clashes in pension applications, antiquarian sources, and personal papers are compiled in the data in the appendix of this article. They compile 42 armed clashes: five in 1778, thirteen in 1779, twelve in 1780, and twelve in 1781. When these events are combined with Munn’s, the quantity of armed clashes bumps up in the middle years of the war, when small raids were most prolific. C hart 2c compiles armed clashes in and near Monmouth County by year. Due to brief narratives of these smaller events, there likely is some double-counting of the same armed clash. However, the amount of double counting is exceeded by the number of armed clashes that cannot be assigned a year—and are therefore not included in the totals in chart 2c. For example, below is one omitted event; it is from the pension application of Samuel Johnson: His company was stationed at Peter Parker's in Shrewsbury with other companies commanded by Col Hendrickson [Daniel Hendrickson]. That in the night one John Newman, a sentry, was fired upon and his pocket was shot through by some of the refugees. The next morning, about sunrise, a colored man, a Negro by the name of Moses, with his gun on his shoulder, was approaching the house where the company was stationed. When he perceived the militia, he immediately turned about & went down the field, upon which the deponent and others followed him, he then turned short and made for a creek called Little Silver of about 200 yards wide. He went in the creek, and the light horse under Captain Walton [John Walton] followed him, as did this deponent and the rest of the company all of whom followed at him whilst in the water, and just at the time he was making the land on the other side of the creek, a rifleman by the name of Alexander Erlich [Alexander Eastlick] fired and wounded said Negro. Also omitted are vaguely-described events. For example, Kasimir Pulaski’s letters described disaffected Stafford Township residents “making a sport” of firing on his Continental troops, but those sniper incidents are not included in the tabulations above because the references are too vague to count. The data also omits Pine Robber violence, unless the incident in question is documented as either a kidnapping or a skirmish. Including all of these events would have swelled the numbers in chart 2c considerably. Defending Monmouth County against Loyalist Raiders As time went on, the Monmouth County militia and a related regiment of State Troops (men raised predominantly from Monmouth County to defend Monmouth County) performed better. Particularly along with Raritan Bayshore, militia and State Troops led by Colonel Asher Holmes, had some successes against raiding parties. At times, local forces were able to turn back raiders with only modest damage. For example, on May 19, 1779, the New Jersey Gazette reported that: Saturday last, a party of near 200 of the enemy landed near Middletown in Monmouth County on a plundering expedition. But from the alertness of our militia in collecting and repelling those invaders, they were soon driven on board their boats by which they were prevented from doing any other mischief than plundering two or three families. Antiquarian sources add that the raiders came over from Staten Island (probably Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers camped there) and landed near Keyport. They intended to burn the Baptist Meeting House (the meeting excommunicated Loyalist members in 1777), but were driven off before they could do that. One antiquarian source, however, notes that the raiders killed a militiaman while skirmishing. Loyalist raiders usually had excellent intelligence on the places they intended to raid. Raiding parties inevitably included Monmouth Loyalists who knew the terrain and their enemies. Regular updates from illegal traders coming to Sandy Hook kept Loyalists current on militia deployments. The intelligence of Loyalist raiders is demonstrated in a surviving map titled, “A Fine Foraging Country Best for Cattle & Hay within Six Miles of Middletown Point.” The undated map includes the roads in northeast Monmouth County with mileage between Sandy Hook villages and as far away as Freehold and Shark River. Interestingly, David Knott's house and sawmill (at the head of Shark River, several miles inland) is the only private house on the map. This probably means that Knott operated a safe-house for raiders. The continued presence of disaffected men like Knott along the shore meant that Loyalists could raid with impunity along their shore even as defenses improved along the Raritan Bayshore. Related Historic Site : William Clements Library (Ann Arbor, Michigan) Appendix Armed Clashes in Veterans’ Pension Applications Not Recorded in Newspaper Accounts 1778 William Hurley "He was with Jacob Brewer, Peter Stillwagon and William Beck, were sent to Tinton Falls to warn out the militia in Shrewsbury, as it was reported that the British & Tories made a landing on the coast; they were sent to Shrewsbury, and the Quakers being then in their meeting, each of the party took a house for the purpose of doing their duty more effectively... when they got to Eatontown, they were fired upon by a party of Tories, Brewer was killed, Stillwagon was made prisoner and sent to New York - I and William Beck made our escape." 1778 William Newberry At Tuckerton, "were engaged about an hour, none of Capt. Randolph's men were killed or wounded. It was said that several of the refugees were wounded." 1778 Benjamin Van Cleaf "Had a brush with the Tories" at Tinton Falls. 1778 John Wilbur “On one occasion they attacked the British and Tories in their boats near Little Egg Harbor Creek and drove them off to their boats, killing and wounding some in their boats." 1778 Adam Stricker "Was in a skirmish at Sandy Hook… in which he and his company took 48 prisoners, 14 horses and a large quantity of household provisions which the enemy had plundered... lost but one man, named Thomson, who was shot through the brains while standing close to the deponent." 1779 William Paynton “Was engaged at Rumson in Shrewsbury with the refugees, and at Jumping Point where two men were killed & six wounded." 1779 William Lloyd "They opened their fire upon us with two field pieces. The first shot cut the bayonet off one of the men's gun. We marched under their fire towards them, but before we got out of the woods, they made their hasty retreat." 1779 William Lloyd "At one time the Negro refugees fired upon a sentinel and pursued them to a place called Jumping Point on the Shrewsbury. We went into the river with one of the men, he got tired a distance from land and could swim no further. I swam to him... and saved his life." 1779 Garrett Irons [Serving] "as a guard along the shore & at the Pennsylvania Salt works, which were situated about five miles from Toms River - whilst at the Salt works, we had a skirmish with a British boat armed with about thirty men sent from New York to plunder the salt works, several shots were passed, two men wounded on our side & the boat driven off." 1779 Garrett Irons "He was engaged in a skirmish with the British & Refugees near Homerstown, in which we had two men killed and three men taken." 1779 Zephaniah Morris “He purchased one half of the farm that formerly belonged to Colonel John Morris, who had forfeited the same… was taken prisoner and carried to New York, where John Morris was Colonel in the British service… was kept a prisoner for 11 months.” 1779 William Newberry "We had two skirmishes with the Refugees, the first was at the salt works [near Absecon], at two other skirmishes around Egg Harbor in Gloucester County; 1779 William Newberry At Cedar Creek, "the skirmish lasted about two or three hours and night came on, so that the refugees got to go to their boats.” 1779 John Wilbur "They lost three men who were taken prisoner, being part of a scouting party, this was along the sea shore at night." 1779 Moses Shepherd “He was once made a prisoner taken in his own house by a party of Tories about dawn… he was taken to New York paroled as an officer on Long Island, stayed about six weeks, he, in company with Captain Thomas Chadwick took a small boat or skiff and came home but was afterwards exchanged.” 1779 Cornelius Smock "He was one of thirteen men, with Capt. Barnes Smock, commanded by his father, Lt. Col. John Smock, that went to a place called the Gut on the sea shore near Sandy Hook, and after a smart skirmish, took 26 prisoners - refugees commanded by Lt William Stevens, who was amongst the prisoners - these prisoners were afterwards exchanged for American prisoners then in prison in New York." 1779 Cornelius Smock "He was with a party that marched on Sandy Hook and retook John Stillwell's cattle, and brought them off." 1780 John Brown "Was taken prisoner by the British at Shrewsbury & carried to New York, where he remained a prisoner in close confinement for 7 months & suffered cruelly from his captors." 1780 John Wilbur At Toms River, "they had a skirmish with the Tories at Nestaconk... wounded one man named John Smith, when they were driven into the swamps by our party." 1780 Linton Doughty “He was taken again by a company of refugees and carried to New York, and kept there in close confinement." 1780 Adam Stricker "Was in a skirmish at Conkaskunk with a party of British & Tories who came over for the purpose of carrying off cattle & horses, at which time he received a musket ball in the shoulder, by which he was stunned & thus mowed down - that Daniel Walling was near him at the time & assisted him to rise, the British party had got four wagons of household goods & had collected five hundred head of cattle, the whole of which we recovered from them, with the exception of a calf they killed." 1780 Benjamin Van Cleaf "Once had quite an engagement at Squan, when the British and Tories attempted to burn the Union Salt Works." 1780 Joseph Johnson "He was taken prisoner... he was kept a prisoner of war in close confinement for 9 1/2 months at which time he took with small pox and very nearly died and then exchanged at Elizabethtown" 1781 John Brown “Attached himself to Capt. Thomas Chadwick's company of Colo. Holmes's Regiment, during the latter part of that service he received a wound from a musket ball in his shoulder, which disabled him for 4 or 5 months" 1781 Francis Jeffers "Was wounded in my hand & wrist, which made me a cripple, which took place in the Township of Shrewsbury"; Anthony Holmes testifies that Jeffrey "was wounded by a bullet shot in his right hand." 1781 Abraham Lane "He was taken prisoner by a company of Refugee of whom William Gillian was Captain, and was carried to the City of New York and confined in the Sugar House, from there he was removed to the North Church and detained prisoner from March to September 1781." 1781 John McLean "He was taken prisoner at the house of John Stout, where the guard was stationed - from there they was marched to Sandy Hook, put on board the guardship and there kept 4 or 5 days; he there met a friend who interfered on his behalf. He was sent home on parole.” 1781 John McLean “He again took the field and went out under Capt Shepherd, the company being stationed at Tinton Falls... but about this time, deponent say he was shot thru the hand and the thigh accidentally by his own gun.” 1781 Daniel Walling At Navesink Highlands, "under Capt. John Schenck, where we met under a general alarm & where we took twenty-eight or thirty prisoners, Tories that had been plundering the country." 1781 John Truax “John Truax came home with his gun in hand and told them that the Refugee named John Mount had that night been shot and that two other refugees that was with him had been taken." 1781 John Truax "Samuel Carman came and & informed her husband that Clayton Tilton, a refugee of notoriety, was off & at home, her husband, John Truax and several more of his men went and took him - and brought the prisoner to their house." 1781 John Truax "The refugees took the slay [sic] & horses and brought them off to Sandy Hook" but are attacked and the Refugees "were forced to retreat and leave the horses there." 1781 Elisha Clayton At Colts Neck "was taken to New York and confined in North Church, and from thence to the Sugar House, where he was kept prisoner until New Year's following, when he was exchanged… That the party that took him prisoner also took a horse from him, from which he never received any compensation." Armed Clashes Listed in Antiquarian Sources that Are Not Recorded in Newspaper Accounts August 1779 Two militia on sentry near Toms River are ambushed and killed. 1779 Private Benjamin Salter is killed in skirmish with refugees March 1780 Capture of militiaman Samuel Bowne by raiding party, who had been exchanged only three days earlier April 1780 Captain Jonathan Holmes: militia Captain, May 1781 In skirmish between refugee party and militia under Capt. Thomas Chadwick, militiaman Francis Jeffers is wounded 1781 Sgt Joshua Marsh of militia killed by refugee raiders Armed Clashes Listed in Local Leader Letters that Are Not Recorded in Newspaper Accounts July 1780 Col. Samuel Forman “Our men retook the horses of the Enemy took from the neighborhood of Monmouth Court House and wounded one Negro.” July 1780 Col. Samuel Forman “Yesterday, the enemy got their plunder: lost one man killed and deserted that come from N. York. He is a person very ignorant. We had not one killed in either action." December 1780 Chief Justice David Brearley “The villain Price [William Price] mentioned in your letter [was] brought here a prisoner this morning, he was taken together with five others yesterday at Shrewsbury by a party that went on a scout, they were found carousing in a dram shop with a sentinel at the door - the surprise was so complete that but two escaped; they were all armed, notwithstanding, they were taken by equal number without firing a gun" May 1781 Col. Samuel Forman "The refugees, joined by a number of residents from Burlington County have drove Ensign Imlay & some militia from the boundary of Little Egg Harbor to Hankins; our men have killed one & wounded two mortally.” Notes: A few of the armed clashes in the data above did not occur within the boundaries of Monmouth County, but are included because Monmouth County militia engaged in the clash. It is possible that two militiamen recalled the same in a few of the entries above. In one case, the wounding of Francis Jeffers in May 1781, a pension application and antiquarian source both recorded the same event. Sources : Munn, David, Battles and Skirmishes of the American Revolution in New Jersey, (Trenton: Bureau of Geology and Topography, New Jersey Geological Survey, 1976); Harlow McMillen, “Red, Green, and a Little Blue: The Story of Staten Island in the American Revolution, Part 8,” Staten Island History, 1st ser., vol. 32 (1977): Part 8, pp. 104, 108; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Hurley; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, William Paynton of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#25319416 ; John C. Dann, The Revolution Remembered: Eyewitness Accounts of the War for Independence (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1980) pp 125-6; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Garrett Irons; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Wilbur; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Moses Shepherd of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 16276047; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Adam Stricker; National Archives, revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Cornelius Smock; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Joseph Johnson; Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 303; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Francis Jeffrey; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - William Newberry; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Daniel Walling; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John McLean of Middletown, www.fold3.com/image/#27289028; National Archives, Revolutionary War Weterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Truax; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Abraham Lane; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Elihu Clayton; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Linton Doughty; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Brown; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Benjamin Van Cleave; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 406; William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1872); William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 406; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p229-32; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p209-10; William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1872); William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 403; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; William Horner, This Old Monmouth of Ours (Freehold: Moreau Brothers, 1932) p 394-5; Munn, David. “The Revolutionary War Casualties.” The Jersey Genealogical Record, vol. 55 (September 1982) p 65; Koegler, M.L., Burrowes Mansion of Matawan, New Jersey, and Notations on the History of Monmouth County (Matawan, NJ: Matawan Historical Society), pp. 47-8; Samuel Forman to William Livingston, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 4, pp. 12, 28-9; David Bearley to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 13, December 26, 1780; Samuel Forman to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 14, May 20, 1781; “A Fine Foraging Country Best for Cattle & Hay within Six Miles of Middletown Point,” University of Michigan, Clements Library, Map #236; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Matthews of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#23666685. 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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 > Adam Hyler Captures Loyalist Regulars on Sandy Hook by Michael Adelberg The HMS Lion served as the guardship at Sandy Hook when Adam Hyler’s privateers captured a party of British regulars. A party of marines from the ship arrived too late to help their comrades. - May 1782 - Adam Hyler of New Brunswick was New Jersey’s most prolific and successful Revolutionary War privateer. As discussed in a prior article , Hyler launched a remarkable string of attacks against British-held New York and Sandy Hook, consisting of at least 17 actions between April 1781 and his death in August 1782. Based on surviving documentation it appears that about half of Hyler’s crew was from Monmouth County—particularly Middletown Point (Matawan) from which New Jersey’s first maritime raids against New York City and Sandy Hook were launched. While Hyler’s exploits were many, his most impressive attack occurred in May 1782 when he captured a party of British regulars sent from Sandy Hook to attack him. Hyler’s attack against Sandy Hook began with taking four small vessels near Sandy Hook, but, as reported in the New York Gazette, on May 29, Hyler was forced to give up some of these vessels: Mr. Hyler paid a visit to our fishing boats last Saturday and took three boats and a prize, inward bound, without [outside Sandy Hook]; he was pursued by an armed vessel dispatched from one of his Majesty's ships, which obliged him to run the prizes ashore. Hyler Captures Loyalist Regulars on Sandy Hook On the same trip, Hyler took on a larger party of British regulars. The New Jersey Gazette reported that on May 25: Capt. Hyler with his armed boat, being in the Shrewsbury River, a party of twenty-five men, a party of British troops, under Capt. Schaak, was detached to intercept them. Hyler discovered them and landed thirteen men with orders to charge; when four of the enemy were killed and wounded, and the Capt. and eight men taken prisoners. By the firing of a gun it was supposed that others were killed, as they were seen to fall. Just before this affair, Hyler had met with a hurt, or otherwise he would probably not have let a man escape. On June 27, Lieutenant H. Sinclair, at Sandy Hook, reported the event to General Cortland Skinner. He described “the arrival of the noted partisan Adam Hyler, with two whaleboats, off Shrewsbury Inlet, a short distance from the Gut." Captain Schaak with 21 men marched after him, with Sinclair staying back with half of the command. At 9 a.m., Sinclair "heard several volleys of musketry, accompanied by two or three rounds of cannon" that "made the necessary signal [for assistance] from the Light House to the Lion , man o war, lying off the Hook.” 40 marines from the Lion under Lieutenant Wood went to assist Schaak. However, they were too late. Sinclair reported on Schaak’s defeat: We had not gone far when we met a refugee who told us he had attended Capt. Schaak and informed me that Capt. Schaak and several of his party were taken, the remainder of Capt. Schaak's party had fallen back to the Light House under command of a Sergeant. Sinclair did not pursue "on account of Hyler probably being on the shoal, and a number of [State Troop ] dragoons constantly hovering about the Jersey side of the Gut, which is fordable at low water." The next morning, 50 marines landed at Spermacity Cove to attack Hyler but "were informed that Hyler went off last night to Middletown Creek" in two boats. The loss of the Schaak’s party at Sandy Hook was significant enough for Skinner to report it to the British Command in Chief, Guy Carleton. Skinner inferred that Sinclair did not follow orders to engage the enemy, “my instructions to him could not justify his march." Skinner then proposed to attack Adam Hyler's base. It is unclear if Skinner was referring to Middletown Point or New Brunswick, but he wanted the row gallies of Lt. Blanchard that razed Toms River in March rather than larger British navy vessels: As Hyler has gone up the bay, I wish that Lt. Blanchard, with his boats, was ordered to this post. I think with these [boats] he [Hyler] could be followed to his haunts, his boats destroyed. The armed vessels [at Sandy Hook] may protect particular places, but cannot follow him. One of Hyler’s men, John Riddle, recalled the clash with Schaak’s party in his veteran’s pension application. After taking three vessels, the privateers returned to Sandy Hook: The next day we returned under British colors, and coming close alongside the fleet off Sandy Hook, we dropped sails and run into Sosbury [Shrewsbury] River. The same evening we passed through the narrow passage between Sandy Hook and the Highlands [the Gut], about sunset, when we spied a craft going across the guard ship in pursuit of which our Captain immediately sent the whaleboat. Riddle (exaggerating the number of British troops) then described the action against Schaak’s party: “Perceiving a line of British soldiers marching down the beach,” Hyler’s men attacked: We were but thirty strong, including the fifteen we had landed: the enemy about seventy. While we were looking over the beach for them from our vessel, they came suddenly round a point within pistol shot of us. The first thing we knew, [there] was a volley from the platoon, having come up on a solid column. Twelve of our men fired with muskets, and in such quick succession that the barrels began to burn our hands. The other three managed a four pounder, which the Captain ordered to be loaded... An opening by our four pounder being made thro’ their column, the enemy broke and run; and the fifteen men before landed, happening to come up, charged and took the Captain [Schaak] and nine of his men. According to a notice published in the New Jersey Gazette , an Admiralty Court would be held at Raritan Landing on June 27 to hear Adam Hyler claims to: A whaleboat & two fishing boats "taken in the Shrewsbury River and off the Hook" A Black man, John Jeffrey, "taken on the 24th taken on board a schooner near the fishing banks" "15 stands of arms" from Captain Schaak’s party. This indicates that Hyler carried off three boats, an African-American (to be sold as a prize of war), and arms—in addition to the prisoners taken that day. Schaak was sent to Elizabethtown, but not initially confined. George Washington wrote to Colonel Elias Dayton, about Captain Schaak on June 11: “A Captain of the 57th Regt British, lately taken by Captain Hyler at the Light House, is on his parole at Elizabeth Town.” Washington asked Dayton to have Schaak “taken into safe custody… and guarded in such a manner as that he cannot possibly make his escape.” But Washington did not want a harsh confinement, instead Dayton should “have him treated with every species of tenderness and delicacy." Related Historic Site : Sandy Hook Lighthouse Sources : The New Jersey Gazette report is printed in Edwin Salter, Old Times in Old Monmouth (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Co., 1970) p 125; J.A. McManemin, Captains of Privateers. (Spring Lake, N.J. : Ho-Ho-Kus Pub. Co., 1994), pp. 467-477; H. Sinclair to Courtland Skinner, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #4675; Courtland Skinner to Guy Carleton, Great Britain Public Record Office, British Headquarters Papers, 30/55, #4681; Riddle, John, The Memoir of Colonel John Riddle, pp. 1-4. Personal photocopy. Correspondence from Jack Fulmer; George Washington to Elias Dayton, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw240366)) ; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; George Washington to Elias Dayton, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit(gw240366)). Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth Leaders Split as David Forman Re-Emerges by Michael Adelberg Elias Boudinot, on behalf of the State, sued Monmouth County’s Highway Overseers for neglecting their duty. This and other disputes stoked tensions between factions of county leaders. - March 1780 - Prior articles showed that, at times, there were bitter disputes between Monmouth County’s Revolutionary Era leaders. For example, the county’s 1777 election was voided by the state legislature after Colonel David Forman, backed by armed men, “harangued” the election-day crowd with accusations about the incumbents he was campaigning against. In January 1779, the Freehold township magistrate, Peter Forman, sent a militia party to seize the grain and hay of Benjamin Van Cleave of Middletown after Van Cleave refused to sell provisions to the county’s Quartermaster agent, David Rhea (also of Freehold). Middletown’s magistrate, Peter Schenck, was outraged that Forman had sent men into his township to take provisions that had been set aside for poor relief. The seizure of goods from two other Middletown farmers would stoke divisions within Monmouth County again in April 1779. A quantity of silks taken from John Holmes and Solomon Ketchum (Middletown) by Elisha Walton (Freehold) led to the famous New Jersey Supreme Court case, Holmes v Walton , in which the Supreme Court overturned the seizure because the October 1778 law allowing it was held unconstitutional. Seizures of vessels by militia units also stoked tensions, as out of area militia often clashed with locals over claims to a vessel. Initial decisions were appealed to the Supreme Court on the likelihood of reversal. A December 1779 petition signed by 120 Monmouth Countians complained that: A quantity of goods was taken, condemned and sold pursuant to the law to the amount of five thousand pounds and the money is in the hands of the officers on duty, ready to divide amongst the men pursuant to the law had not the Judges of the Supreme Court advised the commanding officer stationed at this place not to suffer any dividend to be made of the prize money until the next Supreme Court. The withholding of the money from the men has almost raised a mutiny. The petitioners, mostly from but not entirely from Freehold Township, claimed that they might stop serving on the shore if denied quick access to prize vessels by shore township magistrates: We serve on a frontier county and we believe there will be frequent actions to call out the militia in that time - a great number declare they will not turn out at a future call unless they are allowed to have the benefit of such prizes as the law directs. The various disputes between supporters of the Revolution (they called themselves “Whigs”) had two commonalities. First, they pitted Whigs who were willing shelve the legal rights of individuals in the interest of more vigorously prosecuting the war (Machiavellian Whigs) against those who believed that individual legal rights needed to be protected, even if it made the prosecution of the war more difficult (Due Process Whigs). Second, while there were exceptions, there was a geographic dimension to the division. The leaders from the inland townships of Freehold and Upper Freehold tended to be Machiavellian Whigs. Those in the shore townships—particularly Middletown and Shrewsbury—tended to be Due Process Whigs. (It appears that majorities in the lower shore townships of Dover and Stafford were disaffected .) Struggling to Govern a War-torn, Divided County Aggravating the division between Monmouth County’s Whigs was the inability of county leaders to effectively govern. Evidence of ineffective governance shows up in many places—court dockets show jurors skipping jury duty and constables skipping courts; taxes were inconsistently collected from disaffected neighborhoods; militia delinquency was common in those same neighborhoods and fines for delinquency were ineffective until 1780. The county’s roads were unsafe and poorly maintained. This prompted Elias Boudinot, on behalf of the State, to file an extraordinary “nuisance” lawsuit against the county’s Overseers of the Highways before the Supreme Court in 1780. As a result: Hendrick Hendrickson of Middletown Township was required to post a £50 bond "certifying that the roads and highways will be cleared & repaired." The same bonds were required of Elisha Lawrence and Abiel Aiken for the roads of Upper Freehold and Dover townships. Thomas Little of Shrewsbury posted a bond to clear and repair "the road leading from Freehold to Black Point, and also the road leading from the Falls to Squan bridge to Meteconk bridge." Denice Denise of Freehold Township posted a bond to repair "the road from Covenhoven's to Toms River." Monmouth leaders must have given Boudinot the information necessary to win these bonds before the Supreme Court (presided over by David Brearley, a “Due Process” Whig from Upper Freehold). On March 19, 1780, James Mott, one of Monmouth County’s Assemblymen, spoke to that body on the mistreatment of David Morris by Machiavellian Whigs led by David Forman. Morris was a Continental Army soldier jailed in the county gaol at Freehold. In 1778, Morris defaulted on L10 debt to Peter Imlay (a state Admiralty Court judge). For defaulting, Morris was fined £50 more by Justice Thomas Forman. Morris joined Continental Army and sent his £10 recruitment bounty of Imlay to pay off his debt. He was apparently unaware of the additional fine against him. While home on furlough, Upper Freehold’s magistrate, William Tapscott, arrested Morris for not paying the fine. The Army demanded Morris's release and he returned to the Army without documentation or a decision about the unpaid fine. Mott publicly insulted the Machiavellian Whigs who oversaw the affair: "We have further information that he [Morris] is released from confinement, but by what authority, Mr. Forman could not say." David Forman – Asher Holmes Rivalry In mid-June 1780, a 150-man Loyalist raiding party launched a punishing raid against Middletown. The militia captured one of the raiders. David Forman, at Freehold, interrogated the prisoner. He wrote Governor William Livingston: He confesses he is not a soldier - neither was he to receive any pay - that their sole business was to take a number of inhabitants from their houses and to plunder, & that the plunder was to be divided amongst them. The fact is they were probably a marauding gang. Forman noted the longstanding British policy of executing “marauders,” men who committed violent acts outside of the chain of command. Forman concluded, “Some such example, I am sure, is necessary in this part of the country to deter that class of people, we can no longer be secure at night… If agreeable to the rules of war, prisoners taken in that way [must] be executed.” Forman then turned then wrote Asher Holmes, commanding the militia and state troops on the Raritan Bayshore: "I did expect to receive from you the particulars of the Tory invasion" but did not, "consequently every question will be called as to their [Continental troops] necessity… I have reason to believe we shall in a few days have very few Continental troops." Forman blamed Holmes for the departure of Continental troops from the county, presumably a reference to Major Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee’s dragoons, who were stationed in Monmouth County intermittently through 1779 and 1780. However, Holmes had no duty to report to Forman. Forman was a Continental Army officer (who lacked a command), while Holmes was actively commanding the 1st Regiment of the Monmouth militia and county’s regiment of State Troops . Holmes’ chain of command went through the State’s militia generals, not Forman (who had resigned his militia commission three years earlier). Forman’s dislike of Holmes was evident the following month when Forman criticized Holmes in a letter to George Washington. The specific issue was Holmes’s decision to conduct prisoner exchanges with the Loyalists, a practice that Forman believed encouraged additional “manstealings . ” Forman wrote: The militia here have lately entered into the exchange of prisoners taken when on duty, that the refugee parties take from their own houses or whilst about their usual business. The measure appears to me so replete with evil that I would be wanting in my duty should I pass it unnoticed... with every exchange made, we give encouragement to that British mode of manstealing, once gone into, will always enable them to hold a large ball of prisoners against us. Forman’s dislike of prisoner exchanges continued. By September 1780, Forman was chairman of the vigilante group, the Association for Retaliation . In that role, Forman, issued "Retaliating Committee order no. 16" in which he queried Holmes for information about a potential prisoner exchange for Hendrick Smock: Attending members of the Committee are informed that you [Holmes] have paroled a certain Mr. Williams to go to New York for the purposes of effecting an exchange for Capt. Hendrick Smock, a member of this Committee -- We hope the information is not true. -- If such parole is given and for the purpose aforesaid, we do conceive it counteracting the spirit of the Association [for Retaliation]. We are sorry to learn of your refusal to attend, after first a verbal request from a member, and afterward a note from the Chairman [Forman], without assigning any particular reason. Given the attending member's real concern -- we do therefore request your attendance, or that you assign the particular reason for refusing; and at the same time inform us whether the exchange is effecting for Capt. Smock. It is unknown if Holmes responded, but as an extra-legal body, the Association for Retaliation had no legal authority to require a report from Holmes, much less direct his conduct. Forman’s complaints about Holmes reached Governor Livingston, who must have inquired to Holmes about his conduct. Livingston’s letter has not survived, but it prompted a long and defensive reply from Holmes on December 12. First, Holmes defended his prisoner exchanges, claiming that they had been authorized by Livingston himself: When I was last at Trenton, I informed your Excellency that one of our Commissaries of Prisoners had authorized me to exchange such prisoners of war as are taken here; your reply then was that every commanding officer had a right to exchange their own prisoners - If any exchange going through my hands had been deemed not advisable, I think it would have been consistent with those professions you are pleased to make in your letter to have mentioned [those] to me at that time. Next, Holmes responded to Livingston about the rigor with which he was suppressing the London Trade on an unnamed point of land (which was likely Black Point, present-day Rumson): The intercourse you are pleased to mention with the disaffected of this state, may perhaps exist in the imagination of some, altho’ not reality, for it being a narrow point of land, & the guards above them & scouts round the neighborhood was sufficient to prevent either intercourse or intelligence more than what they have any other time have. The situation of that place is such that the enemy can land there almost when they please (except when we have men on that spot), and the place is by no means safe or convenient to station a guard. Finally, Holmes spoke to the controversy over William Odell, a Loyalist who had landed at Black Point to negotiate a prisoner exchange. Holmes addressed complaints over letting Odell stay at Black Point: As to the censure of some of the Monmouth men I have incurred, your Excellency tells me it will give you particular pleasure to find it has originated from mistake, rather than being founded in reason... I have shown that those that commanded on this county before, allowed a Mr. Elliot and others from New York to come to Shrewsbury & Middletown to visit their acquaintances at these places, & pass through the troops then on duty without being under any restraints that I know of. - I suppose those gentlemen did not think it necessary to go to your Excellency with censure for that transaction & others of a similar nature. Holmes further addressed an allegation that he was too friendly with Odell. Holmes called Odell, “a man I have never saw in my life… neither do I know anything more of his character than from common report.” He further reported that: He came over with a flagg, with two of our officers that had been almost four years in captivity & obtained their paroles for a limited time, as their had been proposals of an exchange for those officers for some taken by the militia of this place, I know of nothing on Odell's character more obnoxious than other common enemies. Finally, Holmes disputed an allegation that Odell was given access to the countryside. Holmes referred to Odell only being “permitted to stay at Black Point, or within half a mile of it, till an answer could be had from our commissary of prisoners respecting an exchange, & as soon as that was obtained they was soon off." Presumably, an exchange was not arranged. The 1780 County Election The animosity between the inland Machiavellian Whigs and Due Process Whigs reached a crescendo at the October 1780 County election. An argument broke out about whether to hold the polls open a second day to allow men serving in the militia along the shore to come and vote—a move that would boost votes for the Due Process Whigs (who lived further away from the county seat of Freehold). The polls were not held open; Assemblyman James Mott was then beaten by David Forman for protesting the closure. The scandalous election was nearly voided by the legislature and is the subject of another article. At the next Court of Quarterly Sessions for Monmouth County, Forman pled guilty to assaulting Mott. Forman admitted that he "did beat, wound and ill-treat him." At the same court, William Van Cleave (from the family that had its rye and hay seized by Freehold Township magistrate, Peter Forman) pled guilty to assaulting Thomas Henderson, the former Freehold magistrate and ally of David Forman. David Forman’s Re-Emergence In 1777, David Forman was the Colonel of a regiment of Continentals and the general of the militias of Monmouth, Middlesex, and Burlington counties. Monmouth county’s civil government was virtually non-existent and Forman filled the power vacuum. However, Forman descended into a string of scandals that included hanging a Loyalist without a proper trial, using his troops as laborers at a salt work he co-owned, and intimidating voters at the county election. Forman resigned his militia commission rather than answer a summons from the New Jersey Legislature and George Washington relieved him of his Continental command in early 1778. After this, Forman retreated from public life. In 1780, David Forman re-emerged as Monmouth County’s most visible leader. He did so in response to vindictive Loyalist man-stealing raids and frustrations that the county’s militia and state troops—led by Colonel Asher Holmes—were not aggressive enough in countering the challenge. Forman helped create and then led the Association for Retaliation, which according to historian, David Fowler, "functioned as a sort of parallel government.” Forman’s re-emergence also split open the simmering division between the county’s Machiavellian and Due Process Whig leaders. As Fowler noted, “The indiscriminateness of their [Retaliator] operations tended to alienate the moderate elements in the county, and thus serve to highlight tensions not only between Whigs and Tories but also among Whigs." Related Historic Site : Victory Park, Rumson Sources : Petition, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Manuscript Collection, Manuscripts, box 14, #51; Elias Boudinot v Monmouth County Townships, New Jersey State Archives, Supreme Court Records, #38922; James Mott, presentation, The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, March 19, 1780, p 169; David Forman to Asher Holmes, Monmouth County Historical Association, Cherry Hall Papers, box 5, folder 9; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 4, reel 68, July 12, 1780; Retaliating Order no. 16, Monmouth County Archives, Court of Quarterly Sessions, folder: 1780; Asher Holmes to William Livingston, New Jersey State Archives, William Livingston Papers, reel 13, December 12, 1780; David Fowler, "Furious Whig: A Biography of General David Forman of Monmouth County", unpublished manuscript. 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 > Anglican Reverend Samuel Cooke Flees Shrewsbury by Michael Adelberg Rev. Samuel Cooke preached at the Christ Church in Shrewsbury, which he led until his plainly-stated Loyalist views made it unsafe for him to remain in Monmouth County. - May 1775 - At the start of Revolutionary agitation, Reverend Samuel Cooke was arguably the most influential man in Shrewsbury Township. For a decade, he led the county’s Anglican congregation at Shrewsbury and smaller congregations at Middletown and Freehold. He lived in a comfortable home in Shrewsbury immodestly named “the Glebe.” As anti-British agitation swept the colonies, Cooke led the resistance. He wrote that, for a half year, “he prevented any committee from being chosen in Shrewsbury.” But the winds were blowing against Cooke’s public support of the British government. Cooke Leaves Shrewsbury for England As sentiments turned against the British, Cooke felt unsafe. He wrote that "he rec'd several threats before he came away, this hastened his departure.” Cooke left for England in May 1775. In his final sermon at Shrewsbury's Christ Church, Cooke alluded to the mixed motivations of Continental leaders in a sermon titled, "The Duty of Mutual Love Enforced by God's Example.” In an apparent swipe at the Continental movement, Cooke warned against following leaders with “secret intentions” and "pretended love.” He urged his congregants to be wary of men “where nothing but self interest is at their bottom." Cooke’s departure was hastened by a clash with Josiah Holmes. Holmes was a former magistrate who was stripped of the office by the Governor for showing sympathy for the rioters who closed the county courts in 1770 and 1771. Holmes was a church warden at the Christ Church and he challenged Cooke’s political influence over the congregation. Later in the war, Cooke would write of Holmes, "He broke out, took the lead as a Committeeman, and joining with a few Presbyterians created all the disturbances in his power against me." Cooke had Holmes removed as a church warden in 1775, but Holmes remained influential. He returned to the Christ Church after Cooke’s departure. There is little documentation of Cooke’s time in England. He wrote fondly of the Loyalism of his flock in Shrewsbury: “few of them have, indeed, swerved from the path of duty.” He also noted the minority status of Anglicans in Monmouth County: “the congregation of the Church of England is small in comparison to the number of dissenters.” Cooke was known by Philip Van Courtland, one of New York’s wealthiest Loyalists, who referred to him as “the worthy Doctor of Kings” and urged a colleague in England to send Cooke his “sincerest respects.” Cooke’s Return to America Cooke returned to America in June 1776. He wrote that “he came home in 1776, hoping that the confusion in the colonies would subside.” Cooke soon learned that returning to Shrewsbury would be dangerous. Instead, he joined the British Army as deputy chaplain to the Brigade of Guards, a British Army unit. Cooke stayed in the Army until the end of the war. In May 1780, he from New York wrote about the "great numbers of the inhabitants of Shrewsbury, both church people and Quakers, here within the King's lines." He also remained in contact with at least some former congregants in Shrewsbury. Of them, he wrote: “Those who remain conform no farther to the present tyranny than is absolutely necessary for their safety, and to exempt themselves from confiscation and jail.” His Loyalist compensation application to the British Government was supported by William Franklin (the last Royal Governor of New Jersey) and Courtland Skinner (the commander of the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers). This proves that Cooke was on good terms with the most important Loyalists at war’s end. Cooke’s family, however, stayed in Shrewsbury. He wrote that he "was compelled to leave behind his large & helpless family, with but slender support.” The family initially owned two farms – 165 and 50 acres – and two slaves. That did not last. In May 1779, Cooke’s was in the first group of Loyalist estates sold in Shrewsbury. His daughter, Mary, was permitted to purchase some of the family estate (another source claims the estate went to Cooke’s son). But Cooke’s main estate was purchased by his old rival Josiah Holmes who, according to Cooke, “took possession of the Glebe and continues to live in it with his family.” After the War Cooke was not immediately replaced. The Anglican (now Episcopal) minister at Spotswood, William Ayres, attempted to serve the Monmouth County congregations, but the war years were hard on him. A 1785 report on the Episcopal Clergy in New Jersey noted that Ayres was “afflicted with insanity” for much of the war, but had recovered his mental health by 1785. Records from the Christ Church note the assignment of a “Mr. Beach” as Reverend in 1782, but it is unclear if this was a permanent assignment. The next long term minister was Henry Waddle, appointed in 1787 after serving the church as its “Lay Delegate” in prior years. Waddle was an early leader of the county’s Revolutionary militia, but he soured on military service early in the war and was permitted to weather the war as a non-participant. After the war, Cooke settled in New Brunswick, Canada, and was appointed Chaplain to the military garrison at Saint John. At least one of his children stayed in Shrewsbury and a son settled on Staten Island, where he, according to genealogical sources, apprenticed as a mason. In 1786, Samuel Cooke became the first rector of the Episcopal Church at Fredericton and in 1791 was named Commissary to the Bishop of Nova Scotia. Reverend Cooke died a few years later. His canoe overset in the St. John River on May 23, 1795. His son, Michael, died while attempting to save his father. Related Historical Sites : Christ Church Sources : Records of the Shrewsbury Christ Church, Shrewsbury Christ Church; Dennis P. Ryan, "Six Towns: Continuity and Change in Revolutionary New Jersey, 1770-1792" (Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1974) p 167. Ryan, New Jersey's Loyalists (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1974) p 11; Dennis P. Ryan, "Six Towns: Continuity and Change in Revolutionary New Jersey, 1770-1792" (Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1974) pp. 46-59; United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info ; Monmouth County Historical Association, Vault, Shelf 4, Christ Church (Shrewsbury) - Vestry Book; Leonard Lundin, Cockpit of the Revolution the War for Independence in New Jersey (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1950) p 68; Hugh Edward Egerton, The Royal Commission On The Losses And Services Of American Loyalists, 1783-1785 (London: Kessinger, 2010) pp. 35-7. See also Rutgers University Special Collection, Loyalist Compensation of Application of Samuel Cooke, D96, AO 13/108, reel 8; Frederic Parris, "The Case of Rev. Samuel Cooke: Loyalist," Monmouth County Historical Association Newsletter vol. 3, May 1975; Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn.: Meckler, 1984) p 174; Monmouth County Historical Association, Samuel Cooke Papers, sermon #7; Great Britain, Public Record Office, Audit Office, Class 13, Volume 54, folio 633-634; Journals of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the State of New Jersey, 1785-1816, (New York: John Polhemus, 1890), p 34;"Six Towns: Continuity and Change in Revolutionary New Jersey, 1770-1792" (Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1974) pp. 169-76. Ryan, New Jersey's Loyalists (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1974) p 19; Anglican Church at Shrewsbury, Christ Church, October 7, 1782, Monmouth County Historical Association, Vault, Shelf 4, Christ Church (Shrewsbury) - Vestry Book; Rev. Samuel Cooke's United Empire Loyalist bio: Minister at Shrewsbury before the war; becomes the Rector of the first church of Fredericton, NB after the war -- United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info ; Cooke’s 1780 letter is in Dennis P. Ryan, "Six Towns: Continuity and Change in Revolutionary New Jersey, 1770-1792" (Ph.D. diss., New York University, 1974) pp. 169-76. Ryan, New Jersey's Loyalists (Trenton: New Jersey Historical Commission, 1974) p 19; Journals of the Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the State of New Jersey, 1785-1816, (New York: John Polhemus, 1890), p 112-113; Peter W. Coldham, comp., American Loyalist Claims (Washington, D.C.: National Genealogical Society, 1980), p 465. Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) pp. 830-1. 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 > Lewis Bestedo Kills Loyalist and Exposes Loyalist Outlaws by Michael Adelberg Jesse Woodward led a small band of Loyalist outlaws into the woods of Upper Freehold Township in early 1777. Here, the men lived in small hunting cabins similar to this one still standing in Virginia. - April 1777 - When the Upper Freehold Loyalist insurrection and other insurrections collapsed in January 1777, the less committed insurrectionists received amnesty in exchange for taking a loyalty oath to the New Jersey government. Among the more committed insurrectionists, 200+ were captured and jailed ; at least as many others went to New York as Loyalist refugees and recruits into the Loyalist New Jersey Volunteers . And a few committed Loyalists went underground, living as outlaws in the thinly-populated cedar forests and salt marshes along the shore. The best-documented of these Loyalist outlaw bands—numbering ten or fewer—went into the woods of southern Upper Freehold township in early 1777. These men, more or less led by Jesse Woodward, lived in modest hunting cabins for several weeks until the desire for revenge lured one member of the group, Nicholas Williams, to expose them and lose his life in the process. Lewis Bestedo Kills and Captures Loyalist Outlaws A devoted Whig (supporter of the Revolution), Lewis Bestedo, was the first man to run into the Loyalist outlaws. According to his deposition before the New Jersey Council of Safety : On or about the 9th of April, as he, the deponent, was riding the public road between the dwelling house of Alexander Howard and Crosswicks, two men, namely Nicholas Williams and Thomas Fowler, who were till then concealed in the bushes, started up near the deponent, when said Williams said 'God Damn your blood, stop!' and immediately said Williams and Fowler both presented their guns at this deponent, who instantly alighted for his horse... That one or both said persons did fire directly at him, and that a ball discharged from one of the guns came so near his head that he thinks it brushed his hair. Upon which the deponent, having also a loaded gun in his hand, did immediately take aim and shot the said Nicholas Williams through the head... and then rushing toward the said Thomas Fowler, took him a prisoner, and conveyed him to Allentown, where he delivered him to Capt. [Francis] Wade. The captured Loyalist, Fowler, was also deposed by Wade a Continental Army commissary officer , at Allentown: He heard Nicholas Williams, who Lewis Bestedo shot this morning in his own defense, says that he would shoot Bestedo the first time he could do it, and as Bestedo was passing the road, going to Crosswicks from Allentown on his lawful business, sd Williams and Fowler lay in ambush along some brush on the road, & started up on sd Bestedo when sd Williams cried out to sd Bestedo 'Damn you, stop' & fired at sd Bestedo directly out of a loaded rifle, & on a missing, sd Bestedo, having a loaded musket with him on his horseback, immediately alighted & fired at sd Williams & shot him there in the head & took sd Thomas Fowler prisoner. Fowler described that outlaw bands "kept in a cabin for two months past, near to Joshua Gibbs." Fowler lived near Williams and Samuel Woodward. “Jesse Woodward also lived in the woods with them in a cabin along Crosswicks Creek.” Jesse Woodward had encouraged Fowler and Williams to stay in hiding "as the regulars would soon return, when they would be at liberty to go where they pleased & that Little Anthony Woodward promised they would be rewarded." John McGinnis was also listed as one of the outlaws, but he remained living in the community. McGinnis had warned Fowler "not to betray him.” With Fowler as an informant, Captain Wade was apparently able to capture Jesse Woodward, who he examined on April 10 at Allentown. Wade wrote of Woodward, "I find he is very backward in giving any information. You will find by his confession and Fowler's, that they differ much... it however 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 said he would write George Washington about the Loyalist outlaws in hiding. He also suggested that Bestedo should be allowed to keep the firearms of Fowler and Williams as a reward for his actions. In his statement, Jesse Woodward admitted to disarming Whigs during the Loyalist insurrection the prior December under guidance from his cousin, Anthony Woodward, who was acting under order from the British Army. He then "went from his house last December into the Pines about ten miles from his house, and living in one of the cabins for about a week at a time, and sometimes went home, and removed to a cabin on Crosswick's Creek above Waln's Mill, where he has lived about three or four weeks past.” On Fowler and Williams, “he understood from his children they were under the same circumstances that he was.” Fowler was brought before the New Jersey Council of Safety on April 11 and confessed that he, Samuel Woodward and Nicholas Williams went to Shrewsbury with plan to go off to Sandy Hook, but were turned back by a patrol. After the insurrection collapsed, Fowler went with Jesse Woodward to a cabin. Tedium in the woods may have prompted rash action. Fowler deposed that, “he has done no work for two months, but was persuaded that the regulars would make it all up to him if he lay still... was persuaded by sd Williams to go with him & assist him in taking Lewis Bestedo, whom he said he would carry to the Hook, when Bestedo returned the fire & shot Williams dead & took him prisoner." Other Loyalist Outlaws Captured With Jesse Woodward and Fowler captured and Williams dead, the Loyalist outlaws grew desperate. Thomas Woodward and Thomas Williams attempted to escape to New York. However, they were taken outside of New Brunswick on May 10 and brought before the Council of Safety on May 21: This affirmant further saith that sd Williams did then and there undertake to conduct him, this affirmant, to the city of New Brunswick & that in pursuance thereof, they, this affirmant and sd Williams, did that night set off with a design to go to the said city & traveled nightly (laying still by day) until they arrived within a few miles of sd city, where they were both apprehended and made prisoners - This affirmant further saith that being himself a stranger to the country & roads through which they passed, he trusted himself entirely to the guidance and direction of him, sd Williams, and that altho' there was no previous agreement between of reward, yet the sd Williams did immediately after their sd apprehension demand of him, the affirmant, the sum of two dollars for his services, which he paid to sd Williams. Another member of the Loyalist gang, Giles Williams, was captured on May 19. Upper Freehold’s David Brearley, a Continental Army officer, sent him to Governor William Livingston, with the note: Your Excellency will have delivered herewith a certain Giles Williams, who left this State last summer with Elisha Lawrence and others, and joined the Enemy on Staten Island; he has sometime past been lurking in the Pines with a set of villains, but was very luckily taken last night in the edge of the Pines by Lieut. Barton [Gilbert Barton] and sent to this place [Allentown]. It is interesting that Giles Williams was part of the first wave of Loyalist insurrectionaries who left Upper Freehold in July 1776 to join the New Jersey Volunteers under Lt. Colonel Elisha Lawrence. Williams apparently deserted the New Jersey Volunteers but remained a committed Loyalist. A number of Loyalists who became so-called Pine Robbers later in the war followed this same pattern. The fate of the few remaining Loyalist outlaws in the Upper Freehold group is unknown; it is possible they remained outlaws and drifted into more violent outlaw activities. By the summer of 1778, and for the rest of the war, Loyalist outlaw gangs resided in the pine forests and salt marshes of coastal Monmouth County. These Pine Robbers terrorized locals and made large swaths of land largely ungovernable. Historian David Fowler (no relation to Thomas Fowler) examined the Upper Freehold Loyalist outlaws and identified them as the starting point of the Pine Robber phenomenon. While this early Loyalist outlaw group was less violent than later outlaw gangs, Fowler’s hypothesis is instructive. Related Historic Site : Nothnagle Log Cabin (early log home in New Jersey, but not representative of one-room hunting cabin) Sources : Deposition of Lewis Bestedo, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 1, pp. 306-7.New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Thomas Fowler; Jesse Woodward’s Statement, taken by Francis Wade, Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) p 51-3; Confession of Thomas Fowler, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, box 1, document #74; Deposition, New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives of History, Council of Safety, Thomas Woodward; David Brearley to William Livingston, Selections from the Correspondence of the Executive of New Jersey, From 1776 to 1786 (Newark, NJ: Newark Daily Advertiser, 1848) pp. 60-1. 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 > Shrewsbury Township Resists Continental Movement by Michael Adelberg Josiah Halstead’s tavern (now the Allen House) hosted the Shrewsbury Township meetings in which local majorities resisted joining the Continental movement in early 1775. - January 1775 - In most ways, Shrewsbury was Monmouth County’s most important township—the first settled, the most populous, the wealthiest, and the most directly tied into the larger Atlantic trade. It also had the county’s largest Anglican congregation and the most prominent Loyalist, the Reverend Samuel Cooke of the Christ Church . In 1774, the people of Shrewsbury did not join the neighboring townships of Middletown, Freehold and Dover in forming township committee s to lead anti-British dissent—but pressures to do so would build. On January 2, 1775 an anonymous advertisement went up in Shrewsbury village. It began: "The inhabitants of the town of Shrewsbury are hereby to meet at the house of Josiah Halstead in said Shrewsbury, the 17th of this instant, January, at noon, in order to choose a Committee." The advertisement said that “confirmed slavery or civil war” would result if the people of Shrewsbury did not join the Continental movement. The meeting at Halstead’s tavern (the present-day Allen House) occurred but attendees chose not to establish a committee. Reverend Cooke recalled that “he prevented any committee from being chosen in Shrewsbury where he lived, by using his influence.” An anonymous account of the meeting further noted: Between thirty and forty of the most respectable freeholders met, and after a few debates on the business of the day, which were carried on with great decency and moderation, it was generally agreed that the appointment of Committees was not only useless, but they would prove disturbing to the peace and quietness which hitherto existed in this township. The decision to not form a committee was noticed in Freehold. On March 6, the Freehold Committee took up the matter and determined to “cut the sacred ties of friendship” with Shrewsbury. The Freehold Committee called for the people of Shrewsbury to vote to form a committee at the town’s annual meeting in May. Shortly after that, a delegation of Freehold citizens went to Shrewsbury, “earnestly requesting they comply with the instructions of the late American Congress in constituting themselves a Committee of Observation.” On March 14, the Freehold Committee formalized the isolation of Shrewsbury from the rest of the county: We esteem to treat them, the said inhabitants of Shrewsbury, as enemies to their King and Country, and deserters from the common cause of true freedom; we will hereafter break off all dealings and communications with them while they continue their opposition. The Freehold Committee had hopes that the isolation would be temporary. “We shall always be pleased to receive them as returning prodigals." The resistance in Shrewsbury soon crumbled. On May 10, a meeting of several township committees in Freehold was also attended by “a number of Gentlemen from the township of Shrewsbury, under the character of Deputies of the Shrewsbury Association, declaring themselves and their constituents desirous of adopting measures of the Continental Congress.” Six days later, this Shrewsbury Association declared: We are desirous to comply with the directions of the County Committee as far the Congress' Association will warrant, and to join the rest of our townships in uniting our force for our just defense and protection, if need be, and it is so required by the Provincial Congress. Finally, on May 27, at the Shrewsbury Township annual meeting (again at Halstead’s tavern), the citizens of Shrewsbury voted to establish a committee “by a great majority.” The Committee would hold its first meeting on June 17. At about this same time, Reverend Samuel Cooke left Shrewsbury. After twenty years as Shrewsbury’s most influential leader, he returned to England. He recorded that “he rec'd several threats before he came away; this hastened his departure.” Related Historical Sites : Halstead’s Tavern (the Allen House ) Sources : Hugh Edward Egerton, The Royal Commission on The Losses And Services Of American Loyalists, 1783-1785 (London: Kessinger, 2010) pp. 35-7. See also Rutgers University Special Collection, Loyalist Compensation of Application of Samuel Cooke, D96, AO 13/108, reel 8; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p123; Peter Force, American Archives: Consisting of a Collection of Authentick Records, State Papers, Debates, and Letters and Other Notices of Publick Affairs (Washington, DC: U.S. Congress Clerk's Office, 1853), 5th Series, vol. 1, p 1165; Edwin Salter, History of Monmouth and Ocean Counties (Bayonne, NJ: E. Gardner and Sons, 1890) p57; "Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury," Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society. 1 st Series, vol. 1 , pp. 189; McMurray Hyde, "James Rivington," Spirit of '76, March 1899, vol. 5, n. 7, p 132; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p123; Gaillard Hunt, Fragments of Revolutionary History (Brooklyn: Historical Publishing Club, 1892) pp. 110-2; Nathaniel Scudder Manuscript, New York Public Library, Myers Collection, #551; New Jersey Historical Society, Holmes Family Papers, box 5, folder 6; Proceedings of the Committees of Freehold and Shrewsbury, Proceedings of the New Jersey Historical Society, First Series, 1846, pp. 190-1; Shrewsbury Township Committee, Monmouth County Historical Association, Collections Alphabetical, Revolution folder 1. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > The Capture of Richard Stockton and John Covenhoven by Michael Adelberg Richard Stockton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence, was captured by Loyalists in November 1776 while staying at the home of John Covenhoven of Freehold. - November 1776 - In the early months of the American Revolution, Richard Stockton was among the most important men in New Jersey. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress and signer of the Declaration of Independence. He came within one vote of being the first Governor of New Jersey. In late November, with the British Army marching toward his home in Princeton, Stockton accepted the invitation of his friend, John Covenhoven, to stay at Covenhoven’s home in Freehold (named “Federal Hall”). Covenhoven was Monmouth County’s most prominent delegate in the New Legislature and one of the drafters of New Jersey Constitution. The Capture of Stockton and Covenhoven In the middle of the night on November 30, 1776, a party of New Jersey Volunteers probably commanded by Lt. Colonel Elisha Lawrence (formerly of Upper Freehold) and guided by Chrineyonce Van Mater of Middletown, entered John Covenhoven’s house and captured Stockton and Covenhoven. The leaders were taken to Perth Amboy (now occupied by the British), loaded in irons, and transported to a common jail in New York. While confined, a well-to-do Monmouth County Loyalist showed “friendship” to Stockton and Covenhoven, presumably bringing them provisions. The Loyalist was Daniel Van Mater, brother of Chrineyonce. A month later, James Webster, a British officer, wrote Elisha Lawrence about Stockton. Lawrence’s battalion occupied Freehold at the time. General William Howe, the British Army’s commander in chief, had pardoned Stockton after he signed a British loyalty oath. Webster spoke with Stockton who "has informed me that his horse & bridle was taken from the ferry by some people under your command." Webster instructed Lawrence that "you will restore the said horse & such effects as shall come within your department, to the said Mr Stockton, at the house of John Covenhoven in Monmouth." After the Capture of Stockton and Covenhoven Stockton’s capture and release caught the attention of William Smith, the Attorney General of the New York’s Loyalist government. On January 2, 1777, Smith recorded that "Mr. Stockton flew with John Covenhoven, a member of the new assembly, to Monmouth, and was there taken by the regulars. It is supposed he went there to be apprehended… for they had a fair retreat to Philadelphia." Stockton recovered the property he left in Freehold and headed back to his home, Morven, in Princeton. As this was happening, the British quit their occupation of western New Jersey following defeat at the Battle of Princeton. Stockton was again in land held by the New Jersey Government. He was disgraced and his health was in decline. In April 1777, he attempted to recover a horse he left at Covenhoven’s house, but the horse was with Abiel Aiken across the state in Toms River; Stockton likely never recovered it. Stockton lived out his remaining years quietly in his home in Princeton; he died in 1781. John Covenhoven also signed a British loyalty oath, presumably after Stockton, and was allowed to return home. On March 4, 1777, Covenhoven petitioned to appear before the New Jersey Assembly, a body of which he was technically still a member. His appearance is recorded in the minutes of the Assembly: He was called in and heard respecting being taken prisoner by the Tories & carried to New York; and it appearing by Mr Covenhoven's own confessions that he had taken oaths of Allegiance to the King of Great Britain, & had given security to remain inactive during the present contest between Great Britain and the United States of America - Resolved, the Mr. Covenhoven has rendered himself unfit to take his seat in this house -- and that the seat be vacated accordingly. A new election was ordered to fill his seat. Covenhoven did not “remain inactive” for very long. He returned to public life in 1778 as a purchasing agent for the New Jersey government. He co-founded the Monmouth County Whig Society in spring 1781, and was re-elected to the New Jersey Assembly later that year. Chrineyonce Van Mater stayed in Monmouth County during the period of Loyalist rule in December 1776, and into January 1777. Major (soon to be Colonel) Asher Holmes led a militia posse that attempted to capture Van Mater but Van Mater’s exceptional horse riding skills allowed him to narrowly escape. Van Mater reportedly lept two fences and rode through a deep stream in order to lose his pursuers. Van Mater was captured on his return home in early 1778. In June 1778, he was tried for his role in the capture of Stockton and Covenhoven. The results were reported in the Pennsylvania Gazette : At the court of Oyer and Terminer lately holden in the county of Monmouth, the Grand Jury found a bill of indictment against Cyrenus Van Mater for giving information to the enemy and thereby being the cause of their taking Hon. Richard Stockton, Esq., and John Covenhoven, Esq., in the month of December 1776. Van Mater put himself upon his trial, and the jury found him guilty; the court thereupon sentenced him to pay a fine of £300 and to suffer six months imprisonment. Van Mater was jailed in the county prison beneath Monmouth Court House in Freehold. However, Van Mater was soon released by the British Army which swept into Freehold immediately prior to the Battle of Monmouth. We hear that the enemy in their late passage through that country released Van Mater; who, after having piloted them [the British Army] through his neighborhood, went off with them to New York, leaving a large real and personal estate behind him, which we presume will be forfeited for his crimes. Van Mater returned to Monmouth County again in 1780 and was captured again with a large quantity of counterfeit money. Related Historic Site : Morven Museum and Gardens Sources : Monmouth, Page in History (Freehold: Monmouth County Bicentennial Commission, 1976) p 6; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p204; Gregory Palmer, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution (Westport, Conn. and London, 1984) p 888. Rutgers University Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, D96, AO 13/19, reel 6; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, July 7, 1778, reel 1930; David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing, NY: Oxford UP, 2004, p164-5; William Dwyer, The Day is ours! - November 1776 January 1777: An Inside View of The Battles of Trenton and Princeton (New York: Viking Press, 1983) p 34-5; New Jersey State Archives, Dept. of Defense, Loyalists Collection, New Jersey Volunteers, box 3, uncataloged #2; Eric Shirber, "The King's Friends in Monmouth County," Monmouth County Historical Assoc. Newsletter, vol. 5, Jan. 1975; William Smith, Historical Memoirs of William Smith: From 26 August 1778 to 12 November 1783 (New York: Arno, 1971) p 60; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, March 4, 1777, p 91-2; Daniel Van Mater to David Forman, Rutgers University Library Special Collections, Neilson Family Papers; Richard Stockton to David Forman, New Jersey State Museum, Manuscripts Collection; Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p108-11; Paul Smith, et al, Letters of Delegates to Congress, 1774–1789 (Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress, 1970) vol. 19, p 313; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; Rutgers University, Special Collections, Loyalist Compensation Applications, Coll. D96, PRO AO 13/112, reel 11; Pennsylvania Gazette, July 14, 1778; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth Countians Fight at Battle of Germantown by Michael Adelberg Gen. William Smallwood commanded about 400 Monmouth troops at the Battle of Germantown. In the confusion of battle, red-coated Monmouth men took fire from Continental soldiers. - September 1777 - In August 1777, the main body of the British Army in America landed at Elk Head, Maryland and began marching north toward Philadelphia. George Washington’s Continental Army rushed south to face the advancing British. A call went across New Jersey for patriots to join them. First Monmouth Countians March to the Defense of Philadelphia Although documentation is lacking, at least one company of Monmouth County militia marched into Pennsylvania in early September to join the Continental Army as it prepared to defend the capital along the Brandywine Creek in southeastern Pennsylvania. Two Monmouth County militiamen recorded participating in the Battle of Brandywine on September 11 and were at the Paoli Massacre on September 20. Joseph Kelly of Middletown recalled: As many as could be spared from the shore went and, as fast as we could go, we arrived there in the beginning of September 1777, some miles below Philadelphia. Captain Smith went with us. He was one of Washington’s captains (regulars). We were placed under General Wayne [Anthony Wayne] at the Battle of Brandywine, which was a few days after we got there. It was a hot siege that we had there. That same night we left the battleground and filed off towards Philadelphia. We arrived there next morning, it rained and we were tired and had a very bad time. We soon encamped on French Creek. Shortly afterwards, we were sent into General Wayne’s detachment near the Paoli tavern. He remembers the night of the massacre well and a horrid night it was too, the British used the bayonet only and made a terrible slaughter. Kelly’s narrative is corroborated by Thomas Patten of Shrewsbury who recalled "working on artillery carriages for the purpose of forming a flying company” in August “to march to the main army which was making head against the British.” Patten went “with seven others, were selected from said village on account of our activity & spryness. We marched toward the main body & joined the division under the command of General Greene [Nathanael Greene]." Patten manned a cannon at the Battle of Brandywine, which lasted eleven hours. The long day took its toll: “My head was so severely injured by the repeated explosions as to cause the blood to gush from my ears & create a deafness that has continued to this day." After the Paoli Massacre, most of the Monmouth men fell back to Philadelphia and marched to Trenton, where they were dismissed. But some of the men stayed in Philadelphia and then marched west to guard the fleeing Continental Congress. Stephen Seabrook recalled his company "guarding the Congress from Philadelphia when the British was advancing on that city." David Forman Raises a Large Force Even before this first group of Monmouth men returned home, another call went out for more support. Governor William Livingston ordered out militia from across New Jersey. Beyond the militia call-out, Major Thomas Mifflin of the Continental Army, who participated in toppling the Loyalist insurrections in Monmouth County eight months earlier, made a direct appeal to Colonel David Forman for help. Mifflin knew Forman commanded an (undersized) Continental Regiment in Monmouth County. As Continentals, they would not be subject to the militia alarm. On September 14, Mifflin wrote directly to Forman about the need to protect Philadelphia and then appealed for help: I believe that forty or fifty light cavalry from your state will be of infinite aid to us -- if they can be formed into a troop & sent forward without delay they will render essential service to America. I will supply them with forage. It is not clear if Forman responded to Mifflin, but Forman, who was also the militia general over Monmouth, Middlesex, and Burlington counties, raised 900 men and crossed into Pennsylvania on September 25. The exact number of Monmouth Countians is unknown, but Monmouth militiaman Zachariah Hankins recalled marching with “Captain [Michael] Sweetman's company and some other companies of militia [Captains William Schenck and Benjamin Van Cleave], Captain [John] Burrowes's company of regulars, and [Joshua] Huddy's artillery company, all under the command of Col. Holmes [Asher Holmes] and Genl. Forman.” Solomon Ketchum of Middletown recalled the march: Marched from Shrewsbury to Freehold when they were joined by some companies from Middletown and Freehold and, under the command of Colonel Asher Holmes, proceeded to Allentown where they stayed all night. Next day they marched to Burlington and crossed the Delaware at Bristol... Was ordered to cook three days provisions, which was done. One company of Forman’s Continentals joined the militia on the march, including the company of Captain Burrowes, the largest in the regiment. In all, the Monmouth Countians may have numbered about half of Forman’s 900. But some of these men never made it to Pennsylvania. Tunis Aumack recalled, "he marched part of the way to Germantown… but his company was sent back to drive off the British and Tories who were pillaging along the shore in their absence.” While Forman’s force was considerable, its size disappointed General Washington. He wrote Forman on the 26th: "I am sorry to find you cannot bring on so respectable a force as we both could wish & had reason to expect.” He asked Forman to “collect your scattered parties as soon as possible." In a letter to Elbridge Gerry, Washington confided that he had expected Forman to bring at least 1,500 men. The British Army took Philadelphia the next day. Forman circled around the British Army in the city and joined up with General William Smallwood’s Maryland regiment west of Philadelphia on September 27. They stayed with the Marylanders for the next week. Monmouth Countians Fight at the Battle of Germantown On the morning of October 4, Forman’s militia, together with Smallwood's Marylanders, were ordered by General John Sullivan, to “march a further circuit to the rear of the right wing to attack the British right flank.” The longer march and unfamiliarity with the land caused the Smallwood-Forman brigade to arrive later than expected. Foggy weather and smoke from cannon fire caused low visibility on the battlefield. In the confusion, Continental troops fired on each other. Forman’s regiment, wearing red uniforms taken from the British six months earlier, may have added to the confusion within the Continental ranks. One of Forman’s men, Koert Schenck, recalled that Captain Burrowes' company “who all wore red coats and were fired at by some of our troops by mistake." The next day, Major Asher Holmes of the Monmouth Militia (soon to be Colonel) wrote his wife about the battle. He recalled being in a brigade with "the Jersey militia and Red Coats under Gen. Forman and the Maryland militia" under Smallwood. Initially, the New Jersians and Marylanders "drove the enemy" but "by thickness of the fog the enemy got in our rear" and the Continentals around them retreated. According to Holmes, “the enemy was within a 120 yards of us in the hottest fire." Despite this: The Monmouth militia and Forman's Red Coats stood firm and advanced upon the British Red Coats until our ammunition was nearly exhausted and the enemy advancing on our right flank, Gen. Forman then ordered us to retreat which we did in pretty good order. Holmes noted that “the officers are all well since the battle, our army is in good spirits... we have lost very few, if any, killed and not many wounded.” Other sources add to Holmes’s account. An anonymous eyewitness recalled the brave (and perhaps exaggerated) action of a Monmouth man named Barkalow: During the heat of the Battle of Germantown, while bullets flew as thick as hail stones, one Barkalow (of Monmouth) was leveling his musket at the enemy, when his lock was carried away by a ball. Undismayed, he caught up the gun of a comrade just killed at his side, and taking aim, a bullet entered his muzzle and twisted it around like a corkscrew. Still undaunted, our hero immediately kneeled down, unswerved the lock from the twisted barrel, screwed it into the barrel from which the lock had been torn, and blazed away at the enemy. The newly-raised artillery company of Captain Joshua Huddy made the march to Germantown but did not make it into the battle. Jerusa Sanford, wife of one of Huddy’s men, William Sanford, recalled that “their piece was an iron one and very heavy so they were kept out of the battle." William Stryker, who extensively researched New Jersey’s Revolutionary War soldiers in the late 1800s, determined that one of Forman’s men, Gershom Vanderhull, was fatally wounded and two other men (Andrew Mains and Jesse Vanderule) were wounded at Germantown. But Stryker did not record the wounding of Thomas Patten, who wrote: “Received a wound with musket ball in my side so severe as to disable me until the later period of the spring [1778]." He was taken back to Freehold "and remained there until late fall when I was taken to the hospital at New Brunswick until the latter part of May." After the battle, the Monmouth men briefly stayed with the Army. Ketchum recalled that his “company became much scattered” during the battle and it likely took some time for the men to find each other after the retreat. Catherine Reid recalled that her husband, John Reid, took part in “burying two soldiers killed at Germantown.” Jerusa Sanford also wrote that her husband buried the dead after the battle. Forman’s men soon returned to New Jersey. Hankins recalled: "After the battle, they remained a few days with the army and came back to Trenton under Genl. Forman, his company was discharged at Monmouth Court House and he went home." The total period of the call-out was six weeks, according to Benjamin Berry of Captain Sweetman’s Company (Freehold Township), but different companies mustered at different times, so Berry’s time estimate was not universal for all of the Monmouth men. In total, Monmouth Countians responded well to the call to defend Philadelphia. Their conduct demonstrates a considerable turnaround from ten months earlier when the county militia “laid down its arms” rather than face Loyalists emboldened by the British advance across New Jersey. That the Monmouth militia advanced on the enemy in pitched battle, despite lacking munitions and training, is noteworthy. However, Monmouth County paid a price for marching so many of its patriots out of state; the county suffered (at least) two Loyalist attacks during the absence of its most patriotic Whigs. Postscript: David Forman and the Defense of Red Bank Even before David Forman left Pennsylvania, George Washington requested his return. He wrote Forman on October 6: You having informed me that the time of your present brigade of militia is near expiring, and that many others who came out here for no certain amount of time are anxious to return home, you have my permission to march... When they cross the river, you may discharge them. But I must beg that you will use your utmost endeavors to collect a number equal to what you have brought to join the army under my command. Two days later, the New Jersey Assembly passed an act to raise 2,000 militia under Forman. Governor Livingston accordingly called out the militias of Hunterdon, Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth & Sussex counties to assemble at Princeton. However, Forman was not optimistic. He wrote Washington from Freehold on October 11: “Your Excellency observes that the order calls for 2,000, neither the Legislative body nor myself expect that so many will march." Forman wrote Washington from Princeton on October 15: “I do not believe I shall collect three hundred men.” Only the Burlington County militia turned out, Forman noted needing to keep many of his own men on the Jersey shore to protect the salt works (in which he was heavily invested). He reported of the Monmouth militia: The Monmouth militia turned out quite well as before, but from the interruptions of several enemy pillaging parties into that County during my late absence, the inhabitants have been led to petition the Legislative body that no part of their militia may march off, and have succeeded for the present. In an October 19 letter, Washington acknowledged the need to protect the salt works requested whatever men Forman could spare. He was more forceful in his next letter to Forman on October 21. “I request in the most urgent manner that you use your utmost exertions immediately to collect a large body of your militia and hasten to the relief of that post [Red Bank on the Delaware River].” Washington argued that the immediate threat to Red Bank was more important than theoretical threat to the salt works: What I have said is on supposition that the danger to the salt work is not so great as to require the whole force you may be able to gather to defend it. I do not mean to neglect the precaution necessary for their security, they are of too much importance; but the defence of Red Bank is an object of the greatest moment. Forman marched for Red Bank on October 21 and arrived at Red Bank on October 26 with an unknown number of Monmouth men. He sent for the assembled Burlington militia. On his arrival, he began quarreling with Silas Newcomb, the militia general commanding the New Jersey militia from the southern counties. Forman complained about Newcomb to Washington who responded: “Your complaints respecting the conduct of Gen Newcomb give me more concern.” But Washington deferred to the New Jersey government to consider the dispute. Governor Livingston sided with Forman and, two weeks later, ordered Newcomb to transfer his command to Forman. As late as October 29, Forman was still collecting men. He wrote Washington from Red Bank: The Excessive rainy weather has prevented the troops from Monmouth and Burlington coming forward as fast as I could have wished—They are however some of them this day advanced as far as Haddonfield and will in the morning be down, when I will Immediately incorporate them with the two Garrisons—They will not be equal to our wants. On November 1, Washington wrote Henry Laurens, President of the Continental Congress, about the situation at Red Bank. He complimented the efforts of Philemon Dickinson (senior general of the New Jersey militia) and Forman “whose conduct and zeal upon every occasion, give them a claim to the Public esteem.” But he was still disappointed with the New Jersey militia’s turnout. David Forman’s Controversies Cloud the Defense of Red Bank Meanwhile, Forman’s troubles with the New Jersey Legislature were coming to a head. Forman had left Red Bank to rally more men to its defense. He wrote Washington from Princeton on November 7 complaining about his continued quarrels with General Newcomb and new quarrels with the New Jersey Legislature: Two Petitions ware handed into the Assembly most unjustly charging me and sundry other Gent. with undue practices on the day of election & praying the election to be set aside—The Petition was read in the House and a hearing ordered on Tewsday [sic] next and a notice served on me to attend. I immediately went to the Assembly, informed them of my situation and requested the hearing might be deferred for a few days until the militia ware assembled and put in some order—My request was denyed [sic]. Forman told the Assembly, “it was impossible” for him to attend the Legislature while rallying the militia and leading the defense of Red Bank. Forman then informed Washington that he had “returned” his militia Brigadier General’s commission to the legislature. Forman also accused the legislature of insufficiently supporting the war: I have long been disgusted with the indolence and want of attention to military matters in the Legislature of this State; I was determined to spin out this campaign in my Slavery until I found a set of Men plotting by the most unfair means to stain my reputation. Washington was saddened by Forman’s resignation. He wrote Livingston, "General Forman has, to my great concern, and contrary to my warmest solicitations, resigned his commission upon some misunderstanding with the Assembly." Forman returned to Red Bank. Despite having resigned from the New Jersey militia, Newcomb was removed and it appears Forman continued on as the de facto commander of the assembled New Jersey militia. On November 24, General Nathanael Greene noted that the New Jersey militia “under Forman” was leaving Red Bank. However, militiamen who had been recruited into the army during their service at Red Bank would have to stay. Related Historic Sites : Battle of Brandywine Visitor Center (Brandywine, PA); Cliveden (Germantown, PA); Red Bank Battlefield Park Sources : Cyclopedia of New Jersey Biography, David Forman, American Historical Society, New York City, 1921 Page 25-29; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of Benjamin Berry of VA, National Archives, p4-6; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Van Note of Ohio, S.3114; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Zachariah Hawkins of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#22623931 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Patten of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#27227091 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Joseph Kelley of PA, www.fold3.com/image/# 26180227; David Forman to [?], Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collection; Donald Brownlow, A Documentary History of the Battle of Germantown (Germantown, PA: Germantown Historical Society, 1955) pp. 11, 47; George Washington to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, September 26 and 29, 1777; George Washington to Elbridge Gerry, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 11, 19 August 1777 – 25 October 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase and Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001, pp. 326–327; Mary Hyde, Jersey at Germantown, New York Times, May 3, 1896, p1-2; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Tunis Aumock; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Jonthan Hildreth of NY, www.fold3.com/image/#22779401 ; Contained in: National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, John Reid of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/# 14359840; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Benjamin Van Cleave; William S. Stryker, Official Register of the Officers and Men of New Jersey in the Revolutionary War (Trenton: Naar, Day & Naar, 1872); Anonymous Account, Hezekiah Niles, “Centennial Offering” (New York: A. S. Barnes & Co., 1876), p 497; Charles Lefferts, Uniforms of American, British, French & German Armies in the Revolution (New York: 1926) p 31; Sullivan, John, Letters and Papers of Major John Sullivan, Otis G. Hammond, ed., 2 vols. (Concord, NH: 1930-31) vol. 2, p 543; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - John Reid; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Koert Schenck; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - Stephen Seabrook; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Solomon Ketchum of NY, www.fold3.com/image/#25013139 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application, Thomas Patten of NJ, www.fold3.com/image/#27227091 ; National Archives, Revolutionary War veterans Pension Applications, New Jersey - George Taylor; Revolutionary War Veterans' Pension Application of William Sanford of NJ, National Archives, p3-5, 22-3; Asher Holmes, Letter Concerning the Battle at Germantown, 1777, Proceedings of the NJHS, vol 7, 1922, p34-5; George Washington to David Forman, Franklin Ellis, The History of Monmouth County (R.T. Peck: Philadelphia, 1885), p163. Postscript Sources : David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, October 5 and 9, 1777; The Library Company, New Jersey Votes of the Assembly, October 8, 1777, p 195; William Livingston to David Forman, in Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 89-90, 93, 94-5; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, October 10 - 16, 1777; David Forman to George Washington, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 44, October 10 - 16, 1777; George Washington to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; George Washington to David Forman, Neilson Family Papers, box 1, folder: Rutgersania, Rutgers University Special Collections; George Washington to David Forman, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 9, pp. 402, 411; George Washington to David Forman, Arthur Pierce, Smugglers' Woods, (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1960) p 232; Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, series 3B, reel 17, October 20, 1777; George Washington to David Forman, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 11, 19 August 1777 – 25 October 1777, ed. Philander D. Chase and Edward G. Lengel. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2001, pp. 572–573; George Washington to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 45, October 25 - 31, 1777; George Washington to David Forman, Library of Congress, George Washington Papers, Series 4, reel 45, October 25 - 31, 1777; David Forman to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 13–16; David Forman to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 49–51, 59; George Washington to William Livingston, John Fitzpatrick, ed., The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources (Washington, DC: US Government Printing Office, 1932) vol. 9, pp. 485-6. Library of Congress, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 168, item 152, vol. 5, p 161; George Washington to Henry Laurens, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 78–85; William Livingston to Silas Newcomb, Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, pp. 99-100; David Forman to George Washington, The Papers of George Washington, Revolutionary War Series, vol. 12, 26 October 1777 – 25 December 1777, ed. Frank E. Grizzard, Jr. and David R. Hoth. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 2002, pp. 151–154; Carl Prince, Papers of William Livingston (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1987) vol. 2, p 108; Nathanael Greene, The Papers of General Nathanael Greene (Chapel Hill: U of North Carolina Press, 1976) vol. 2, p 206. Previous Next

The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth Loyalists Emigrate to Canada by Michael Adelberg The eastern provinces of Canada were carved up on land grant maps like this one. Dozens of Monmouth County families emigrated to Canada. Even with free land, life was hard when they arrived. - September 1782 - Throughout the Revolutionary War, New York City was home to thousands of Loyalist refugees. Much of the time, the city was overcrowded; food and firewood shortages were common. While Loyalists sided with the British and performed military activities with British regulars, the relationship was an uneasy one. The British military was intensely hierarchical and harsh. American Loyalists, at least by British standards, were ill-disciplined. The British decision to court-martial Richard Lippincott in May 1782 for hanging Joshua Huddy angered Loyalists, as did other conciliatory gestures by the British. Whatever the resentments, Loyalists backed the losing side in the war—and were therefore dependent on British largesse. In many cases, Loyalists who tried going home were unwelcome and met with violence. Canada was sparsely settled and the British were eager to relocate loyal English families as a counterweight to the French population. Guy Carleton, the former Governor-General of Canada and British Commander in Chief at New York, was well positioned to steer Loyalists there. Monmouth Loyalists Head to Canada Documentation of Loyalist resettlement is plentiful but sometimes confusing. There are many partially overlapping lists of Loyalists bound for or settled in Canada, but some Loyalists who are known to have ended up in Canada are absent from these lists. African American Loyalists were compiled in separate lists and are the subject of a different article . With these data limitations in mind, it appears that the first Monmouth Countians resettled in Canada were part of a group of 600 Loyalists that left for Nova Scotia on September 20, 1782. Seven probable Monmouth County Loyalist families were among them, including Widow Buckalew (with two children) and Conradt Hendricks Freehold Loyalist with his wife and six children. Another group of 432 Loyalist refugees, the "Bay of Fundy Adventurers," left for New Brunswick, Canada on October 19. The effort to resettle Loyalists grew more intense in early 1783. The New Jersey Gazette wrote on March 12 about "recent intelligence from New York” detailing “that the Provincial Corps [Loyalist military units] are to be immediately disbanded." British authorities prepared lists of the Loyalists they were supporting. One list, "Refugees from the Province of New Jersey… for support from 1 January to 31 March, 1783," included 79 New Jersey families of which 17 were probably from Monmouth County including the families of former County Collector Samuel Osborne, former Judge John Wardell, former militia colonel George Taylor, and widow Catherine Reading (wife of a Middletown Loyalist partisan killed on Staten Island in 1781). Loyalist newspapers in New York began running glowing accounts of Canada and encouraging emigration. The advertisement excerpted below about Prince Edward Island (published on March 12 in the Royal Gazette ) was written to specifically appeal to New Jerseyans. Prince Edward Island was called "the most eligible Country for you to repair to of any we know between this and New Jersey.” The advertisement discussed the island’s virtues: The soil is good, it is well wooded, and free from rocks. The climate so good that fevers and agues unknown. Water everywhere is excellent. The government is mild, with but very few taxes.... Before we came here, we were told, as perhaps you may be, the worst things possible of this country but we have found the reverse to be true. Seven officers from the King's Rangers signed the advertisement, including three Monmouth Countians, Lieutenant John Throckmorton, Ensign John Robins, and Ensign Joseph Beers. Efforts were made to emigrate military units and their families together, but the decision to emigrate was voluntary. Some Loyalists had good reason not to leave when requested—perhaps they needed more time to sell possessions, settle business, or return to New Jersey to say goodbye to family. Ships taking some New Jersey Volunteers (Loyalist soldiers) and their families left on April 27 for New Brunswick. It appears that 24 additional Monmouth County families accompanied them that day, including the families of Rhoda Pew (whose husband was murdered in Monmouth County) and William Dillon (a Loyalist boatman from Toms River who would eventually return to New Jersey). The once-feared Associated Loyalists split up. Roughly 400 Loyalists emigrated to Port Roseway in April 1783. But they did so with trepidation, worrying over the "suffering they must endure" as the British offered only six months of provisions. They did not believe they could be self-sustaining in that time. In January 1784, 220 men, women and children remained at Port Roseway. Fifteen of those families were probably Monmouth County families including those headed by David Thomson, James Thomson, and John Thomson—an extended family that included a number of London Traders. Loyalist historian, Janice Potter-MacKinnon, wrote of another 300 Associated Loyalists who went to Sorel, Quebec in July and August 1783. She notes that they were from New York and New Jersey and one fourth were of Dutch descent. One of those Loyalists was Joseph Allen, a mill owner in Dover Township before the war, who would become a successful owner of several mills in Canada. While some New Jersey Volunteers had already left for Canada, it appears that the largest tranche--more than 600 men, women and children—emigrated to New Brunswick on July 8 along with "4 companies of free Black Refugees." Elisha Lawrence of Upper Freehold (former Lt. Colonel in the New Jersey Volunteers ) and John Antill (former Major) left for Canada on April 17 to scout for a large-scale emigration site. They returned to New York and brought off the 600 Loyalists in July. But Lawrence ran afoul of the Royal Governor who complained to General Carleton of Lawrence’s and Antill’s “unreasonable demands and illiberal ideas.” Additional New Jersey Volunteers continued to emigrate. A September 5 report, "Embarkation Return of Troops to Settle in Nova Scotia" included information on 59 New Jersey Volunteers settled there. “Staging for embarkation” were another 153 men, 67 women, 98 children and 12 servants from the 1st Battalion, and 134 men, 46 women, 67 children and 25 servants from the 2nd Battalion. Personal Accounts Regarding Emigrating to Canada Unfortunately, there are no surviving diaries or personal letters from Monmouth County Loyalists during their emigration. But a good sense for the journey is provided in the diary of New York Loyalist, Sarah Scofield Frost. She left on the ship, Two Friends , with 250 other emigres on her ship and 2,000 in total; on board with her, "many of the voyagers were or had been members of the New Jersey Volunteers." They boarded their ships June 8, 1783, bound for resettlement near St. John. The ships left Manhattan on June 9 but were detained by bad weather for a week at Staten Island and then detained again near Sandy Hook on June 15. She wrote, "We came to anchor about six miles from Sandy Hook Light House... This evening, we had a terrible storm, and hail stones fell as big as once balls." They sailed again on June 16 but were delayed for several hours as each of the fourteen heavily loaded ships (carrying 2,000 Loyalists) had to clear the Hook one at a time. During this time, Two Friends sat over the fertile fishing banks off Sandy Hook. Frost wrote that "the men are fishing for mackerel... It is the handsomest fish I beheld." After ten days at sea, the convoy arrived at St. John. The Loyalists had to live in tents and because it took time to build cabins for themselves; most spent the next winter in those same tents. Frost matter-of-factly wrote: Many of the women were unaccustomed to such living and this was made more serious by the care of the children, many of them being of tender years. Living in tents with snow at the time being six feet or more in depth caused much suffering. Two Monmouth County Loyalists wrote letters regarding emigrating to Canada. John Morris (formerly of Manasquan) commanded the 2nd Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers through the first half of the war before retiring on a half-pay pension due to disability. In August 1783, he wrote Guy Carleton to request reinstatement into the Army and reassignment to Quebec. It is unknown if his request was granted. Richard Robins (formerly of Upper Freehold) was a leader in December 1776 Loyalist insurrection. He wrote Carleton a memorial on his service in September 1783: “Your memorialist was called upon by Sir William Howe to furnish the Army with a number of wagons and horses, which your memorialist did." Robins suffered for his loyalty, writing that he was "confined in close gaol for eighteen months & upwards" and had his £1000 estate confiscated. He wrote that "has been drove from his home with the loss of the remainder of his property" and was leaving for Canada in “destitute” condition. He asked for compensation. The British created a process for Loyalist compensation in 1787, but Robins was dead—dying on Prince Edward Island in 1784. Monmouth County Loyalists Settle in Canada Canadian records from 1784-1786 provide information on Monmouth County Loyalists during the first years in Canada. A large number of the 2nd Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers had settled together in New Brunswick. A “List of Volunteers” compiled on July 14, 1784 (eight years after 60 Shrewsbury Loyalists marched to Sandy Hook to establish the group) includes 27 likely Monmouth Countians. Four were junior officers who served continuously through the war (Ensign Lewis Thomson, Lieutenant John Combs, Lieutenant Cornelius Thomson, and Ensign John Leonard). The 1st Regiment of the Kings Rangers was established halfway through the year, made up partially of Monmouth Countians who tired of the New Jersey Volunteers. They settled in Nova Scotia. A June 12, 1784 roll lists 85 household heads including eleven probable Monmouth County families: Lieutenant John Throckmorton (with wife and 2 two servants, 500 acres), Ensign John Robins (single, 500 acres), Ensign Joseph Beers (with wife, child, servant, 500 acres), Sergeant Alexander Campbell (with wife and child), 200 acres), Privates Peter Rose, Matthew Griggs, Thomas Smith, John Croxen, John Jackson, Daniel Wall, William Armstrong (all single with 100 acres each). Ward Chipman, the Muster Master for the Canadian Maritime Provinces, compiled rolls of “disbanded” American officers and widows of officers in his provinces. Ten likely Monmouth Countians are listed: John Horner, Lydia Horner, Anthony Woodward, Anthony Woodward Jr., Richard Lawrence, Michael Wardell (at Bellevue in Beaver Harbor, July 1, 1784); John Leonard (at Digby, May 29, 1784); John Taylor (1st NJ Volunteers), John Williams (at Gulliver's Hole, St. Mary's Bay, and Sissiboo, June 6, 1784); John Throckmorton (“Preparing to settle in the Island of Saint John” on August 12, 1784). There are other records of land grants being made to Loyalists in 1784. At least four more prominent Monmouth County Loyalists received significant grants of land. Nova Scotia: Captain Samuel Leonard, New Jersey Volunteers, 700 acres (October 8) and Major Thomas Leonard, 1000 acres (October 22); Cape Breton Island: Captain Thomas Crowell, 500 acres (March 15) and Major John Antill, 1,000 acres (November 28). An undated Canadian report, "List of Provincial Officers that Served in North America During the Late War" included the following probable Monmouth Countians as active: 1st Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers - Captains John Taylor, Samuel Leonard; Lieutenants John Thomson, John Lawrence, James Britton, Henry Britton, Ensigns John Woodward, Joseph Britton, Ozias Ansley, Reuben Hankinson; 2nd Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers - Lieutenant Cornelius Thomson, Ensigns Robert Morris, John Leonard; Roger's Rangers - Lieutenant John Throckmorton, Ensign Joseph Beers, John Robins. A list of retired officers on half-pay included: Lt. Colonels John Morris, Elisha Lawrence; Majors John Antill, Thomas Leonard; Captains John Longstreet, Robert Morris, Lieutenants John Throckmorton, Thomas Okerson; Ensign John Robins. Retired or not, Elisha Lawrence was entrusted by the British to make land grants to New Jersey Volunteers under his leadership. He granted 36 Loyalists 300 acres each on July 2, 1785. A year later, at St. John, Jonathan Odell (formerly of New Jersey) made 613 land grants in New Brunswick. Dozens of possible Monmouth Countians were among these grantees including Catherine Reading. Canada was not a frozen wasteland. But it was cold, the land was untamed, and support from the British fell short of expectations. The New Jersey emigres were not frontiersmen; most farmed land that had been cleared for decades. During the war, most lived on British rations or food purchased at New York City markets. Given all of this, there should be no doubt that while a few Loyalists prospered (Joseph Allen soon owned several mills and a great deal of land in Quebec), most found life in Canada, particularly in the early years, very difficult. Related Historic Site : United Empire Loyalists Heritage Centre (Ontario) Sources : List of Loyalists, Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, CO 5, v97, #427; Loyalists Evacuated from New York to New Brunswick, (David Bell, Early Loyalist St. John, Fredericton, NB: New Ireland Press, 1983), compiled by Edward Kipp; Advertisement in Royal Gazette in Great Britain, Public Record Office, Colonial Office, Class 226, vol 9, folio 5-6; List of Provincial Officers, Great Britain Public Record Office, T64/23; Joseph Allen’s bio, United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info ; United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info ; Library of Congress, Early American Newspaper, New Jersey Gazette, reel 1930; List of Refugees from the Province of New Jersey, David Library, British HQ Papers, Carleton Papers, #7258; David Bell, American Loyalists to New Brunswick: Passenger Lists (Formac, 2015); Return of the Port Roseway Associated Loyalists, www.buckingham-press.com/project ; Associated Loyalists in Report on Canadian Archives (Ottawa: S.E. Dawson, 1894) p403; National Archives, Papers of the Continental Congress, reel 66, item 53, #276-94. Library of Congress, Peter Force Collection, series 7C, box 24, folder 3, 53:281-7; Notice, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #7575; Library of Congress, Rivington's New York Gazette, reel 2906; Diary of Sarah Scofield Frost, Migration by Ship/United Empire Loyalists' Association of Canada, www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Ships/Loylalist-Ships.php; Captain John Hatfield : A Genealogy of the Descendants of Captain John Hatfield, Loyalist (New York: Genealogical Publishing Co, 1943) p10; Janice Potter-MacKinnon, While the Women Only Wept: Loyalist Refugee Women Eastern Ontario (Montreal: MacGill U.P., 1993) p 135-6; United Empire Loyalists, Loyal Directory: http://www.uelac.org/Loyalist-Info ; Governor Parr to Guy Carleton in Alfred Jones, “Letter of David Colden, Loyalist, 1783”, American Historical Review, October 1919, vol. 25, p81 n5; John Morris to Guy Carleton, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #8799; Return of Troops to Settle in Nova Scotia. Great Britain Public Record Office, WO 36/3, p 96; Richard Robins, Report on American Manuscripts, Library of Congress, v4, p336; Richard Robins to Guy Carleton, David Library of the American Revolution, Great Britain Public Records Office, British Headquarters Papers, #9022; Sketch of the Movement of the Troops, Clements Library, U Michigan, MacKenzie Papers, October 1783; Return of Loyalists Gone from New York to Nova Scotia, Great Britain Public Record Office, WO 36/3, p 97; Digitized Manuscripts: Loyalists in the Maritimes – Database: Ward Chipman, Muster Master ( http://www.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/discover/military-heritage/loyalists/loyalists-ward-chipman/pages/search.aspx ); Muster Roll of the King’s Rangers, 1784, www.islandregister.com/kingsrangers/html ; Muster Roll, King's Rangers, Capt Samuel Hayden, June 24, 1784, www.islandregister.com/kingsrangers/html ; 2nd Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers, List of Volunteers, Collections of the New Brunswick Museum, folder 75, box 9; Nova Scotia Archives, Land Papers, http://www.novascotia.ca/nsarm/virtual/landpapers/archives.asp?ID=183&Doc=memorial&Page=201100512 ; List of Grantees, We Lived: A Genealogical Newsletter of New Brunswick Sources: http://freepages.geneaology.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~cannbfam/SJ.pdf ; Michael Adelberg, Biographical File, unpublished at the Monmouth County Historical Association. 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The articles in the collection 250 for the 250th: The American Revolution in Monmouth County represent the most complete history of this topic ever assembled. < 250 Home < Previous pg. Next > Monmouth's Presbyterians Lose Two Ministers in a Week, Then Gain One by Michael Adelberg Reverend John Woodhull came to Monmouth County in late 1777 as the county’s sole Presbyterian Minister. He replaced two ministers, William Tennent and Charles McKnight. - May 1777 - Historians of the American Revolution have noted that, among all Protestant denominations, Presbyterians lined up the most solidly behind the Revolution. In the Revolutionary Era, Monmouth County had Presbyterian meeting houses at Penelopan (present day Manalapan), Mt. Pleasant (west of Middletown), Allentown, and Good Luck (north of Toms River). The Penelopan and Mt. Pleasant meetings were ministered by William Tennent and Chales McKnight respectively. The smaller Allentown meeting shared a minister, George Faitoute, with meetings in Burlington and Nottingham (in Burlington County). The Good Luck meeting did not have a minister. The strong pro-Revolutionary tilt of Presbyterians was not lost on Loyalists. During Upper Freehold’s Loyalist insurrection , William Imlay was “publicly damned… [as] an 'old Presbyterian', saying he was the cause of all the bloodshed.” The British Army, no doubt, guided by local Loyalists, singled out the Allentown meeting house to use as its stable when it occupied Allentown in the days prior to the Battle of the Monmouth. The Death of Monmouth County’s Presbyterian Ministers By 1777, a clique of ascending Presbyterian county leaders—David Forman, Nathaniel Scudder, Thomas Henderson, etc.—faithfully attended the Tennent Church in Penelopan (now Manalapan). That church, more than any other, would be the focal point of local political power for the rest of the war. William Tennent was the minister of the Tennent Church. He was the son of Gilbert Tennent, the famous Great Awakening preacher. As the elder minister of the zealously Whig congregation, Tennent was among the county’s most important residents as the Revolution started. But Tennent’s health was failing. The Minutes of the New York and Philadelphia Presbytery would soon record: "The Rev. Mr. William Tennent departed this life March 8, 1777." Tennent had been declining for some time, and was reportedly unconscious for a week before expiring. Within days of Tennent’s death, Loyalist raiders burned the Presbyterian meeting house at Mt. Pleasant. They captured Reverend Charles McKnight. In a week, the county lost both of its Presbyterian ministers. McKnight had made himself a target for Loyalists with his strongly anti-British sermons. William Sands testified that in October 1776 McKnight was one of three Revolutionary leaders targeted for capture by Samuel Wright’s Loyalist association. He was “to be conveyed to Staten Island, where they [the Loyalists] were to receive forty dollars each for each prisoner taken.” When captured in March, he was put on a prison ship with common prisoners and not permitted the “ parole ” status granted to other gentleman prisoners. McKnight was fatally ill by December 1777, when he was released home. The New York and Philadelphia Presbytery would note "that the Rev. Mr. Charles McKnight departed this life January last.” John Woodhull Arrives in Monmouth County Monmouth County would be without a Presbyterian minister from March 1777 until the end of that year. At that time, Reverend John Woodhull, a native of Pennsylvania and Continental Army veteran, arrived as the new minister of the Tennent Church. It might not be a coincidence that the middle months of 1777—between Tennent’s death and Woodhull’s arrival—was the same period of time in which General David Forman’s conduct lurched toward lawless. Forman lacked an ethical check from a professional minister. While Woodhull arrived too late to check David Forman’s excesses, he would soon prove an energetic and patriotic minister. He became the local loan officer for the Continental government, helping to raise money for the troops. In 1779, the Tennent Church offered communion to 82 people including fifteen slaves and two free African Americans. Reverend Woodhull led instruction at the Mattisonia School at Freehold, Monmouth County’s first school. Woodhull’s rising standing is demonstrated by him being sent a divinity student, Joseph Clark of Elizabethtown, in 1781. Clark fondly recalled his time studying under Woodhull: The principal part of his theological instructions he received from that venerable father of the church, and distinguished teacher of divinity, the Reverend Doctor John Woodhull... with whom Mr. Clark resided some time, prosecuting his preparatory studies for the ministry and improving himself by assisting his Reverend preceptor in the instruction of the highly respectable grammar school which he [Woodhull] had established and was superintending at the place of his residence. Woodhull was recognized by the New York and Freehold Presbytery as an “elder” in 1782. He was only thirty-one years old. However, it should be noted that the other Monmouth Countian bestowed that title in 1782 was Kenneth Hankinson, a militia officer associated with several scandals; he would soon lead the vigilante group, the Retaliators . The willingness of Presbyterian leaders to look past unethical conduct, if it was pro-Revolution, was evident in Revolutionary New Jersey. As for Joseph Clark, he became Reverend Joseph Clark at the end of 1783. He recorded that he "took charge as the Presbyterian congregation at Allentown.” This congregation, expanded by new members fleeing inland to escape Loyalist raiders, was finally large and wealthy enough to support its own minister. It is unclear when the Mt. Pleasant congregation received a minister again, but it was not during the war. If a minister had been assigned to the congregation during the war, he likely would have suffered the same fate as Reverend McKnight. Related Historic Sites: Old Tennent Church Sources : William Imlay, Deposition, New Jersey State Archives, Collective Series, Revolutionary War Documents, #29; Records of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1788) p477; Benson Lossing, The Pictorial Field-book of the Revolution (New York: Harper Brothers, 1860) vol. 2, p 368; John Fabiano, Allen's Town, New Jersey: Crossroads of the American Revolution, unpublished manuscript in the collection of the Allentown Historical Society, p 51-2, 54; Allentown Messenger, Nov. 16, 1905; Records of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1788) p480; New Jersey State Archives, Bureau of Archives and History, Council of Safety, Deposition of William Sands; Monmouth County Historical Association, Collections Alphabetical, John Woodhull Pape; Symmes, History of Old Tennent Church (Cranbury, NJ: George Burroughs, 1904) p 183-4; Records of the Presbyterian Church of the United States, (Philadelphia: Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1788) p487, 492; Memoirs of the Reverend Robert Finley… with Brief Sketches of Some of His Contemporaries (New Brunswick: Terhune & Letson, 1819) p214; Diary of Joseph Clark in Proceedings of the NJ Historical Society, 1853-55, vol. 7, pp 93. 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