USA > New Jersey > Monmouth County > A history of Monmouth and Ocean counties : embracing a genealogical record of earliest settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and their descendants, the Indians, their language, manners and customs, important historical events. > Part 16
USA > New Jersey > Ocean County > A history of Monmouth and Ocean counties : embracing a genealogical record of earliest settlers in Monmouth and Ocean Counties and their descendants, the Indians, their language, manners and customs, important historical events. > Part 16
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A PATRIOT WOUNDED ; ANOTHER CAPTURED - THE MANNA- HAWKIN MILITIA, AND THE BATTLE OF MONMOUTH.
Another account says that one warm summer even- ing during the war there had been religious services at the church at Mannahawken. After services the minister went home with one of the Cranes (Silas Crane, we think it was,) when the minister and Crane sat conversing until
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
late in the evening. The front door was open, and also a window on the opposite side of the room, by which Crane sat. At length, happening to look at the front door, Crane got the glimpse of two or three men with muskets, and knowing the Refugees had threatened his life, he sprang through the back window. As he jumped he was fired upon, and though severely wounded in the thigh he managed to escape.
The notorious Refugee leader, John Bacon, it is said, worked as a farm laborer, a year or two for the Crane family, before the war.
Captain Randolph and his heroic militia, just pre- vious to the battle of Monmouth, marched on foot, though the weather was intensely hot, to join Washing- ton's forces beyond Freehold, but were unexpectedly prevented from engaging in the battle. Tradition fails to give a reason why they went so near and yet did not participate, but the history of the battle and of Wash- ington's disposition of his forces sufficiently explain it. Washington had stationed General Morgan at Shumar's Mill's (near Blue Ball), with positive instructions not to move until he should receive orders, and through that memorable battle Morgan was compelled to listen all day to the distant firing, chafing with impatience for orders to join, but orders failed to come. The Manna- hawkin militia, when they got to Shumar's Mills, were probably placed under Morgan's command, and this would account for their not participating in the battle.
During the war Captain Randolph was one night surprised in bed at home by Refugees, taken prisoner and carried to a swamp and tied to a tree, but managed to escape. At another time the Refugees surrounded and searched his house while he was in it, but his wife successfully concealed him under feathers in a cask.
WILLIAM GIBERSON, THE REFUGEE, AND THE MANNAHAWKIN MILITIA.
During the war the Refugee leaders appear to have had our shore divided into districts. Davenport and his men had Dover township for their "stamping" ground ;
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MANNAHAWKIN IN THE REVOLUTION.
Bacon from Cedar Creek to Parkertown, below West Creek ; around Tuckerton and below it Joe Mulliner and Giberson, from their headquarters at the forks of the Mullica river, sallied forth on their predatory excursions. These men do not appear to have left their respective districts except to aid their confederates.
One time Bill Giberson (as he was usually called) with a part of his band, suddenly appeared at Tuckerton, and thinking they were safe, went to Daniel Falkin- burgh's tavern (where Dr. Page's house now is) and de- termined to have a good time. They began by making night hideous with their bacchanalian revels. Some of the villagers at once sent word to the Mannahawkin militia, and Sylvester Tilton and three or four more started in a farm wagon to attempt to capture or dis- perse the outlaws. Giberson was informed by a Tory that the militia had been sent for, and so he retreated towards the landing, to a good position near his boats, and when the militia arrived he poured into their ranks such a volley that they were compelled to retreat, as they found the Refugees were in greater force than had been represented.
The militia jumped into their wagon and drove back, followed by Giberson and his men, who pursued them to West Creek bridge, where the Refugees halted. This little affair was about the only one during the war that gave the Refugees a chance to boast, and so they often related the story with great glee and much exaggeration. But after all, there was but little to brag about, in a strong force causing the weak one to retreat. As the militia were driving over West Creek crossing a mishap occurred to the wagon-tongue-one end dropping down, which checked them long enough to allow the Refugees to fire again, but fortunately without effect.
Giberson was wounded by the patriots during the war, and the particulars are thus given in Mickle's Reminiscences of Camden :
" Captain John Davis was sent with a company of men to Egg Harbor. Here his lieutenants, Benjamin
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Bates and Richard Howell, were informed that the Refu- gee officers were concealed in a certain honse. They called early in the morning and found and captured William Giberson and Henry Lane, both Refugee lieu- tenants, the former a notorious rascal, who had commit- ted many outrages and killed one or two Americans in cold blood. On their way to the quarters of Davis' company, Giberson called Bates' attention to something he pretended to see at a distance, and while Bates was looking that way, Giberson started and ran the other way, and being a fast runner, made his escape, although Bates fired his musket. The next day Bates went to hunt for him at the same house, and while opening the door heard the click of a musket-lock behind a large tree within a few feet of him, and turning around saw Giber- son taking aim at him. Bates dropped on his knees, and the ball went through the rim of his hat. Giberson then started to run, but before he got many rods Bates gave him a load of buckshot, which broke his leg. Giberson was then well guarded and taken to Burlington jail, whence he finally escaped to New York."
Tradition says that Giberson escaped from Burling- ton jail by assistance of his sister. She obtained per- mission to visit him, and while in the cell exchanged clothes with him. So strikingly did they resemble each other that when he came out of the cell the jailor thought it was the sister, and actually helped him in the wagon and thus he escaped.
Mickle corroborates the Stafford and Egg Harbor traditions in regard to the marvelous strength and activity of Giberson and his sister. It is said that " at a hop, skip and jump he could clear an ordinary Egg Har- bor wagon," and was fleet-footed as an Indian ; and that his sister could stand in one hogshead, and without touching her hands, would jump into another by its side.
After the war Giberson's sister, it is probable, re- moved to Salem county, as traditions there speak of a woman named Giberson who could perform the feat of leaping from one hogshead into another. Giberson him-
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MANNAHAWKIN IN THE REVOLUTION.
self went to Nova Scotia, with other Refugees, about 1783, but after a few years he returned to Atlantic county, where he settled down to a peaceful life.
Mrs. Leah Blackman says the house where Giberson sought refuge, when Bates was seeking him, was on a small lot below Tuckerton, between the farms of James Downs and Dr. T. T. Price, and that he had a rude hut in the centre of a thicket, called Oak Swamp, in the neighborhood of Down Shore. This hut was composed of branches of trees, leaves and moss, and called " Giber- son's Nest." She says he was wounded by a hickory tree near Downs' farm, and this tree was frequently pointed out to her.
WHALE FISHERY.
A license to engage in whale fishery was granted February 14, 1678, to Joseph Huet, Thomas Ingram, Richard Davis, Isaac Benit, Randal Huet, Thomas Huet, Henry Leonard, Thomas Leonard, John Whitlock, John Crafford (Cranford), Thomas Applegate and Charles Dennis, "twelve persons or more," they having made proposals to undertake the fishing trade. They were licensed to take whales or like great fish between Barne- gat and the eastern part of the Province, and to pay for the privilege one-twentieth of the oil.
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
EXECUTION OF A SPY.
One affair which caused the most intense excitement throughout old Monmouth, and elsewhere during the war of the Revolution, was the arrest, trial and execution of a young man named Stephen Edwards, on the charge of being a spy for the British. Though reference to it is rarely met with in our histories, yet there were but few events in the county during the Revolution, that created a greater sensation than did this.
One of the officers who tried Edwards, and assisted at his execution, was Captain Joshua Huddy, and this furnished one of the excuses the refugees gave for his in- human murder near the Highlands some three years after. On the trial of the refugee leader, Captain Richard Lip- pencott, by a British Court Martial at New York, in the Summer of 1782, for his participation in the hanging of Huddy, refugee witnesses testified that even while Huddy was a prisoner in their hands, and but a few days before his death, he boldly acknowledged his participation, and justified it on the ground that he was found with treason- able papers in his possession, which conclusively proved him to be a spy.
The following account of Stephen Edwards arrest, trial and execution, from "Howe's Collections" is believed to be substantially correct :
Stephen Edwards, a young man, in the latter part of the war, left his home in Shrewsbury and joined the loyalists (refugees) in New York. From thence he was sent by Colonel Taylor of the refugees, a former resident of Middletown, back to Monmouth county, with written instructions to ascertain the force of the Americans there. Information having been conveyed to the latter, Captain Jonathan Forman of the cavalry, was ordered to search for him. Suspecting he might be at his father's residence half a mile below Eatontown, he entered at midnight with a party or men, and found him in bed with his wife, disguised in the night cap of a female.
"Who have you here ?" said Forman.
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CAPTAIN JOSHUA HUDDY.
" A laboring woman," replied Mrs. Edwards.
The captain detected the disguise, and on looking under the bed, saw Edwards' clothing, which he ex- amined, and in which he found the papers given him by Colonel Taylor.
He then said, " Edwards, I am sorry to find you ! You see these papers ? You have brought yourself into a very disagreeable situation-you know the fate of spies !"
Edwards denied the allegation, remarking that he was not such and could not so be considered.
This occurred on Saturday night. The prisoner was taken to the Court House, tried by a Court Martial next day, and executed at 10 o'clock on Monday morning. Edwards' father and mother had come up that morning to ascertain the fate of their son, and returned with the corpse. Edwards was an amiable young man. The For- man and Edwards families had been on terms of inti- mate friendship, and the agency of the members of the former in the transaction, excited their deepest sympa- thies for the fate of the unfortunate prisoner.
The guilt of Edwards was conclusively proven ; deep sympathy was felt for his parents and wife, but the perils of the patriots at this time were so great that prompt and decisive action was necessary for their own preser- vation.
The foolhardiness of Edwards in keeping treason- able papers about him was remarkable. Some features of this affair will remind the reader of the unfortunate Major Andre. It is probable that Edwards was executed about September, 1778.
CAPTAIN JOSHUA HUDDY,
THE HERO OF TOMS RIVER.
Among the multitude of heroic men furnished by our State in aid of the struggle for independence, the name of Captain Joshua Huddy should ever occupy a conspicuous place in the memory of Jerseymen. Yet
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
when we recall his daring decds, his patriotic efforts and sacrifices, and his unfortunate end, it is doubtful if less justice has been done to the services and memory of any other hero of his day. Though the Continental Congress, as well as General Washington and other noted men tes- tified their warm appreciation of his services; though his name at one time was a household word, not only throughout this country but at the courts of England and France; and though his unfortunate death and its con- sequences, for a time caused the most intense excite- ment on both sides of the Atlantic, yet in the substance of the language of a report adopted by Congress in 1837, "It is fearful to state that after a lapse of fifty years, while the services of others of so much less merit have been made the theme of the biographer and the poet, the memory of Huddy has not been honored with an epitaph. His country, it would seem, has outlived the re- collection of his services, and forgotten that such a vic- tim was sacrificed for American liberty."
OUTLINE OF CAPTAIN HUDDY'S LIFE.
The following extracts from the archives of the State Department of New Jersey, were furnished in 1837 to a Congressional committee at the request of the chairman, by the late Governor Philemon Dickenson :
"Captain Joshua Huddy is appointed by an act of the Legislature, passed Sept. 24, 1777, to the command of a company of artillery, to be raised from the militia of the State, and to continue in service not exceeding one year.
"In the accounts of the paymaster of militia there is an entry of a payment made on the 30th of July, 1778, to Captain Joshua Huddy, of the artillery regiment for services at Haddonfield, under Colonel Holmes. In the same accounts a payment is also made to Captain Huddy on the 1st of July, 1779, for the use of his horses in the artillery."
Captain Huddy, with other prisoners, was taken to New York and lodged in the noted Sugar House prison, from whence he was taken on Monday, April 1st, 1782, to the prison of the Provost Guard in New Nork, where
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CAPTAIN JOSHUA HUDDY.
he was closely confined until Monday, April 8th, when he, with Daniel Randolph and Jacob Fleming (both of whom were taken prisoners with Huddy at Toms River, but soon exchanged for two tories, named Captain Clayton Tilton and Aaron White), were taken on board a sloop and ironed.
The following is a copy of the order to the Commis- sary of Prison at New York, to deliver him to the care of Captain Richard Lippencott, of the Refugees, to be taken on board the sloop :
NEW YORK, April 7th, 1782.
SIR :- Deliver to Captain Richard Lippencott the three following prisoners : Lieutenant Joshua Huddy, Daniel Randolph and Jacob Fleming, to take down to the Hook, to procure the exchange of Captain Clayton Tilton and two other associated Loyalists.
By order of the Board of Directors of Associated Loyalists.
S. S. BLOWERS, Secretary.
To Mr. Commissary Challoner.
Huddy, Randolph and Fleming were kept in irons in the hold of the sloop, until Tuesday evening, April 9th, when they were transferred to the guardship at Sandy Hook. The ship was the British man-of-war Bri- tannia, Captain Morris. Early on the 12th Lippencott came on board the ship for Huddy and showed Captain Morris two papers, one being a label which was afterward fas- tened to Huddy's breast. Captain Morris asked Lippen- cott what he intended to do with Huddy. Lippencott replied that he intended to put in execution the orders of the Board of Associated Lovalists of New York, which* was to hang Huddy. He borrowed a rope from Captain Morris, and then proceeded on his infamous mission. Huddy was then taken ashore at the Highlands where a gallows was erected from three rails and a barrel placed under it from which he was launched into eternity. The ยท label attached to his breast had the following inscrip- tion :
" We, the refugees, having long beheld with grief the cruel murders of our brethren, and finding nothing but such measures daily carrying into execution ; we there-
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
fore determine not to suffer without taking vengeance for the numerous cruelties, and thus begin, having made use of Captain Huddy as the first object to present to your view, and determine to hang man for man while there is a refugee existing.
UP GOES HUDDDY FOR PHIL. WHITE."
Captain Huddy executed his will under the gallows, signing it on the barrel from which he was a few moments afterward launched into another world.
CAPTAIN HUDDY'S WILL.
The following is a copy of the will of Captain Hud- dy, signed by him under the gallows:
"In the name of God, amen ; I, Joshua Huddy, of Middletown, in the county of Monmouth, being of sound mind and memory, but expecting shortly to depart this life, do declare this my last will and testament :
"First: I commit my soul into the hands of Almighty God, hoping he may receive it in mercy ; and next I com- mit my body to the earth. I do also appoint my trusty friend, Samuel Forman, to be my lawful executor, and after all my just debts are paid, I desire that he do di- vide the rest of my substance whether by book debts, notes or any effects whatever belonging to me, equally between my two children, Elizabeth and Martha Huddy.
"In witness whereof I have hereunto signed my name this twelfth day of April, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty two.
"JOSHUA HUDDY."
The will was written on half a sheet of foolcap paper, on the back of which was the following endorsement, evidently written shortly after the will was executed :
" The will of Captain Joshua Huddy, made and ex- ecuted the same day the refugees murdered him, April 12th, 1782."
The will was found some years ago among the pa- pers of his executor, the late Colonel Samuel Forman and subsequently came into the possession of Judge Benning- ton F. Randolph, who deposited it in the library of the New Jersey Historical Society. It was signed by Capt. Huddy, but was apparently written by another person. The daughters named in the will subsequently became Elizabeth Green and Martha Piatt. The last named
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CAPTAIN JOSHUA HUDDY.
moved to Cincinnati where she lived to an advanced age.
"Timothy Brooks, a refugee, who was one of Lippen- cott's party, testified in New York before a Board of In- quiry, that Huddy was executed by a negro and that Lip- pencott shook hands with Huddy as the latter was stand- ing on the barrel by Huddy's request.
After his inhuman murder his body was left hang- ing until afternoon, when the Americans came and took it to Freehold, to the house of Captain James Greene, where it was, April 15th. He was buried with the honors of war. His funeral sermon was preached by the well remembered Rev. Dr. John Woodhull, pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Freehold.
The execution of Huddy was regarded by the Com- mander-in-Chief as a matter of such high import that, in anticipation of the action of Congress upon his letter, he had directed that the general officers of the army, and the officers commanding brigades and regiments, should assemble at West Point and decide on what measures should be adopted. On the 19th day of April the meet- ing was held at the quarters of General Heath, when the following questions propounded by Washington were stated :
"Shall there be retaliation for the murder of Huddy ?"
"()n whom shall it be inflicted ?"
" How shall the victim be designated ?"
General Heath in his memoirs describes the de- liberations of the officers as independent of each other ; no conversation was permitted between them on the question submitted, but each one was to write his own opinion, seal it up, and address it to the Commander-in- Chief. By this process it was found the decision was unanimous that retaliation should take place; that it should be inflicted on an officer of equal rank; and the designation should be made by lot from among the prisoners of war who had surrendered at discretion, and not under convention or capitulation.
This decision was approved by Washington, who
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
gave immediate information of his intention to retaliate, to the British Commander, unless the perpetrator of the bloody deed should be given up for execution.
Baron de Grimm, in his celebrated Memoirs, states, without any qualifications, that George III gave orders "that the author of a crime which dishonored the English. nation, should be given up for punishment," but he was not obeyed. It is highly probable that this statement is true; the writer recorded it in 1775, and from the advan- tageous position he occupied, must be presumed to have known the fact. (Vol. iv., p. 272.)
The people of New Jersey were exasperated beyond measure at the bloody catastrophe; but when it was ascertained that the murderer would not be surrendered or punished, their indignation prompted the bold attempt to seize the miscreant by force. To effect this purpose, Captain Adam Hyler, of New Brunswick, having ascer- tained that Lippencott resided in Broad street, New York, with a crew disguised as a British press gang, left the Kills at dark in a single boat, and arrived at White- hall about nine o'clock. Here he left the boat in charge of a few men, and passed directly to Lippencott's house, where, on inquiry, it was ascertained he had gone to Cock Pit. (Naval Magazine, November, 1839.) The ex- pedition of course failed ; but the promptness with which it was conducted proves the devotion of the brave men who were engaged in the common cause, and their exe- cration of Huddy's assassin.
The demand for Lippencott having been refused, General Washington, on the 4th of May, directed Briga- dier-General Hogan to designate by lot, from among the prisoners at either of the posts in Pennsylvania or Mary- land, a British Captain who had been unconditionally surrendered. As it was ascertained that no such officer was in his power, a second order was issued on the 13th of May, extending the selection to the officers who had been made prisoners by convention or capitulation. Under this last dispatch, the British Captains who had
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CAPTAIN JOSHUA HUDDY.
been captured at Yorktown were assembled at Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and the lot fell upon Captain Asgill.
Charles Asgill was a Captain of the guards, of a noble family, and at the time he was designated to suffer, but nineteen years of age. He was captured at York- town, confined during the winter of 1781 82 at Winches- ter, in Virginia, and had been removed but a short time to York, Pennsylvania, when the lot was cast against him.
Captain Asgill was conducted to Philadelphia, and from thence was removed to Chatham. He was accom- panied by his friend, Major Gordon, who attended him with the devotion of a parent to a child.
In the meanwhile the execution was suspended, but every effort was exerted, every plan that ingenuity could devise or sympathy suggest adopted to save the innocent sufferer. Major Gordon appealed to the French Minister, then in Philadelphia ; he wrote to the Count de Rochem- beau, and despatched messengers to numerous influential Whigs throughout the Colonies to interest them in be- half of his friend ; and so eloquent and importunate were his appeals, that it is said by General Graham, "that even the family of Captain Huddy became themselves suppliants in Asgill's favor." These untiring exertions unquestionably contributed to postpone the fate of the victim until the final and successful intercession of the French Court obtained his release.
When Lady Asgill heard of the peril which im- pended over her son, her husband was exhausted by dis- ease, and while the effect of the intelligence was pent powerfully up in her mind, it produced delirium in that of her daughter. Under all these embarrassments she applied to King George the III., who, it is said, ordered the cause of this measure of retaliation, the wretched Lippencott, to be delivered up, which Clinton contrived to avoid. She did not cease her importunities until she had dictated a most eloquent and impassioned appeal to the Count de Vergennes, who laid it before the King and Queen of France, and was immediately directed to com-
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municate with General Washington and implore the re- lease of the sufferer. A letter, says the Baron de Grimm, " the eloquence of which, independent of oratorical forms, is that of all people, and all languages, because it derives its power from the first and noblest sentiment of our nature."
For seven months the fate of this interesting young officer remained suspended, when, chiefly through the intercession of the French Court, he was set at liberty. The following are the proceedings of Congress directing his discharge :
THURSDAY, November 7, 1782.
On the report of the Committee, consisting of Mr. Rutledge, Mr. Osgood, Mr. Montgomery, Mr. Boudinot, and Mr. Duane, to whom was referred the letter of the 19th of August last, from the Commander-in-Chief, the report of a committee thereon, and the motives of Mr. Williamson and Mr. Rutledge ; and also, another letter from the Commander-in-Chief, with a copy of a letter to him from the Count de Vergennes, dated July 29th last, interceding for Captain Asgill :
Resolved, That the Commander-in-Chief be, and he hereby is directed, to set Captain Asgill at liberty.
A copy of the foregoing proceedings and resolution was forwarded by General Washington to Captain Asgill, together with a letter, given below, which exhibits the moral excellence, the great and commanding attributes that always distinguished the Father of his Country. " The decision of General Washington in this delicate affair, the deep interest felt by the American people for the youthful sufferer, the pathetic appeals of Lady Asgill to the Count de Vergennes in behalf of her son (in the language of Congress in 1837), forms one of the most im- portant and instructive portions of revolutionary his- tory.
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