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 26
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 26
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CENTENNIAL YEAR OF PEACE.
as far as Barnegat. A tradition in Howe's Collections says the Indians in this section sold out their lands to Lewis Morris in 1670, but Indian Will refused to leave. The probability is that this tradition has confounded two transactions. Indian Will, according to the best traditionary authority, lived near a century later, and the Indian sale of land with which his name has been connected was probably the one originating at a confer- ence held at Crosswicks in February, 1758, and concluded at Eastern Pennsylvania in the same year.
CENTENNIAL YEAR OF PEACE.
FEBRUARY 2D - JULY 4TH - NOVEMBER 25TH.
Independence Day one hundred years ago was but little observed in our State. At Trenton a number of patriotic gentlemen assembled at the house of Isaiah Yard. Thirteen cannons, one for each State, were fired ; after which a cold collation was served, and then the company separated. The reason that this particular day was less observed than several which had preceded it was that the event it commemorated had so recently been celebrated in connection with the proclamation of peace. In nearly all the towns of our State, Trenton ex- cepted, the proclamation of peace was celebrated on the 19th of April, because that day was the anniversary of the first battle of the Revolution, that of Lexington. At Trenton the celebration was held a few days before, on the 15th. The news had been received by a French ship, at Philadelphia, March 23d. Three days later, on Wed- nesday, March 26, the Trenton New Jersey Gazette pub- lished the news, which rapidly spread through the State by post-riders, expresses and private conveyances. The official proclamation in New Jersey was made by Gover- nor Livingston on the 14th of the next month, and the next day the citizens generally assembled at the house of Mr. Williams (where public meetings were frequently held), and a procession was formed, in which were Gov- ernor Livingston, the Vice-President of Council, mem-
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
bers of the Legislature, judges, magistrates, students of the academy and citizens generally. They marched to the Court House, where the Governor's proclamation announcing the cessation of hostilities was read, and thirteen cannon fired, followed by the huzzas of the people.
At 12 o'clock divine service was held and a suitable discourse delivered by Rev. Dr. Elihu Spencer.
At 3 P. M. the Governor and citizens met at the houses of Messrs. Williams and Cape (both of whom probably kept hotels), where entertainments were given and appropriate toasts proposed. In the evening almost every house in Trenton was illuminated.
At Princeton, on the 19th, the programme was about the same. The religious discourse was by the Rev. Dr. Witherspoon. Celebrations were also held at New Brunswick, Woodbridge, Cranberry, Amwell in Somerset, and other places.
Bordentown seemed to have had the most notable one.
At noon the citizens of the town and vicinity assembled at the house of Colonel Okey Hoagland. The Governor's proclamation was read, thirteen cannons fired, huzzas, etc. At 3 P. M. a dinner and toasts at Colonel Hoagland's. In the evening the houses of the town were all illuminated, but the particular attractions were the illuminated transparencies at the house and academy of Rev. Burges Allison. The transparencies represented :
1. The sun in its meridian splendor, shedding its rays on the segment of the globe comprehending North America, with the motto, "Shine on our happy land."
2. Portrait of General Washington encompassed with thirteen stars, representing the States, with the motto above, "Independent, united and free !" Below the motto, "Success to our allies !"
3. Peace represented with implements of husbandry, and a dove with an olive branch, with the motto, "They shall beat their swords into plowshares and their spears into pruning hooks."
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CENTENNIAL YEAR OF PEACE.
4. Plenty represented by ten corimcopias with fruits and flowers ; the corner supporting a festoon, two wheat sheaves and a basket of fruit.
5. The crown of France in the middle of the fleur de lis, with the motto, " Long live Louis XV."
6. A trophy adorned with British arms, drums and inverted standard; motto, "Spoils of our foes," over which was Fame flying, with a label from her trumpet, " America shall be free !"
7. Britannia sitting in a disconsolate position point- ing to her broken spear, saying by a label, "Alas, I've lost America !" Mars standing with his sword extended over her and saying per label, "I've humbled her !"
8. America in the figure of an Indian with his bow and arrows, and the British crown lying at his feet. Mercury standing by him with a laurel crown, saying, per label, "The laurels thon hast won."
The celebration at Bordentown closed with a grand ball in the evening. New Brunswick had a curious bon- fire in the evening ; sixteen tar barrels, supported by separate poles of great length, all set on fire at the same time with a large quantity of combustibles around the tallest poles.
In almost every town the celebration was commenced by divine services. At New Brunswick the services were in the Dutch Church, and conducted by a Presbyterian minister, Rev. Israel Reed. His text was from Ecc. 7:14, " In this day of prosperity be joyful." At Woodbridge Rev. Mr. Roe conducted the services.
The toasts in the various towns, Trenton, Princeton and elsewhere, were very pertinent.
HOW THE NEWS CAME-A RACE ACROSS THE OCEAN.
Provisional articles of peace between Great Britain and the United States were signed at Paris, November 20, 1782, to go into effect when a treaty between France and Great Britain should be agreed upon, which was done January 20, 1783, but not to go into effect until rati- fications were exchanged. This took place February 3,
1
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
1783, and as soon as it occurred our French friends were intensely anxious that a French ship should be the bearer of the first news received in America. Lafayette and Count D'Estaing determined to have a war ship started at the earliest possible moment. It would not do to send a ship by way of the Channel or North Sea, as the treaty did not affect vessels there until twelve days after February 3, and their ships might be intercepted. But D'Estaing had an immense new fleet of sixty war ships just fitted out to aid in attacking England. It was determined to send one of this fleet, then lying at Cadiz, at the farthest extremity of Spain. By the time the dis- patches were prepared, sent to the ship, and the ship fitted for the voyage, over two weeks had elapsed. On the 19th of February she set sail. The name of the ship was the "Triumph." Perhaps Lafayette and D'Estaing selected her because of her name to carry the triumphant news. Her captain was the Chevalier du Quesne. The anxiety was great that she should get the news to Phila- delphia before a British ship could carry the news to the enemy in New York: In this our French friends were gratified. The English ship did not reach New York until April 4, while the "Triumph," after a passage of thirty-two days, reached the capes of the Delaware, when the captain went ashore and started an express with the dispatches, which reached Philadelphia at 9 o'clock on the morning of March 23, beating the British nearly two weeks. On Wednesday, March 26, the New Jersey Gazette, at Trenton, published the news under the head of "Peace, Liberty and Independence."
It is doubtful if the Trenton State Gazette of 1865, in publishing the news of Lee's surrender, spread so much joy as did its predecessor by the news in its issue of March 26, 1783.
B. Smith was postmaster at Trenton then, and the dispatches came, probably, to his care by James Martin, who was post-rider between Philadelphia and Trenton. There were no post-offices then in Burlington or Mon- month. John Van Kirk, of Cranberry, an ex-Sheriff of
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HIGH PRICE FOR A MONMOUTH BOOK.
Middlesex, was a post-rider on his own account from Trenton to Allentown, Freehold, Middletown, etc., and similar post-riders carried the old New Jersey Gazette to East Jersey, Newark, Morris and elsewhere, and great joy did those post-riders bring to every town and home with the news.
In most of the celebrations of peace in New Jersey the three prominent toasts were : "February 3d," date of Peace; "April 19th," Battle of Lexington; "July 4th," Independence Day. And these three memorable days were commemorated in one. The thirteenth toast at Princeton expressed the idea of all : "May the recol- lection of the 19th of April, 1775, the 4th of July, 1776, and the 2d of February, 1783, prove a terror to tyrants and oppressors throughout the world."
Of course the finale of the war had not yet come. Evacuation Day, November 25, 1783, when the British evacuated New York, was perhaps the last act in the eight years' war. What a fearful contrast between the distress and despair of the Refugees in New York, whom peace had ruined, and the joy of the Patriots !
HIGH PRICE FOR A MONMOUTH BOOK.
Philip Freneau, the popular poet of the Revolution, issned from his press at Mount Pleasant, Monmouth county, in 1795, a volume of his poems entitled : POEMS, Written between the years 1768 and 1794, By PHILIP FRENEAU, of New Jersey. A new edition, revised and corrected by the Author, Including a considerable number of pieces never before published. Audax inde cohors stellis e plurebus unum Ardua pyramidos tollit ad astra caput. MONMOUTH, N. J.
Printed at the Press of the Author, at MOUNT PLEASANT, near MIDDLE- TOWN POINT: M,DCC,XCV ; and of American Independence XIX.
Over the Latin motto is a pyramid of fifteen stars- the pyramid of fifteen American States. There are other editions of his poems, but this one is so rare that it is highly prized by antiquarians. Our attention has been
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
called to this book by the fact that in a recent London bookseller's catalogne a copy is advertised for sale ; price, €3.10s. (about seventeen dollars.) A leading Ameri- can dealer in, and importer of rare and curious works, generally charges a customer here forty cents for every shilling a book costs in London, to cover risks and profit. This would make this book cost an American purchaser twenty-eight dollars! But this is not the highest price this work has been held at. A friend found a copy in an antiquarian bookstore in Washington a few years ago, for which the dealer asked some forty odd dollars, but finally got down to thirty-five dollars !
Philip Freneau married Miss Eleanor Forman, daughter of Samuel Forman, a wealthy citizen of the county. Colonel Jonathan and Denise Forman, men- tioned in the historical sketches of the county in connec- tion with Revolutionary matters, were her brothers, and General David Forman was a cousin. Both Mr. and Mrs. Freneau are buried at Mount Pleasant. He died December 18, 1832.
The following account of his death was published in the Monmouth Inquirer at the time :
" Mr Freuean was in the village, and started towards evening to go home, about two miles. In attempting to go across he appears to have got lost and mired in a hog meadow, where his lifeless corps was discovered yesterday. Captain Frenean was a stanch Whig in the time of the Revolu- tion, a good soldier and a warm patriot. The productions of his pen ani- mated his countrymen in the darkest days of '76, and the effusions of his muse cheered the desponding soldier as he fought the battles of freedom.
"Of this poet, from whom Thomas Campbell and Walter Scott did not hesitate to plagiarize ; whom the greatest English critic compared to Gray and who wrote pieces that Scott learned by heart, one of which he pronounced 'as fine as anything written in the English language,' is a man of whom Monmouth has a reason to be proud. He was the intimate friend of leading American statesmen for nearly two generations."
AN AMUSING STRATAGEM.
The noted Commodore Percival, who died a few years ago, familiarly named " Mad Jack Percival," in the early part of his naval career was the hero of an adven- ture on our coast, which is thus described by a paper published in New York at the time :
"On Sunday morning, July 4, 1813, the fishing smack
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AN AMUSING STRATAGEM.
' Yankee' was borrowed by Commodore Lewis, who had command of the American flotilla stationed at Sandy Hook, for the purpose of taking by stratagem the sloop 'Eagle,' tender to the Poictiers 74, cruising off and on Sandy Hook, which succeeded to a charm. A calf, a sheep and a goose were purchased and secured on deck. Thirty men, well armed, were secreted in the cabin and forepeak. Thus prepared, the 'Yankee' stood out of Mosquito Cove, as if going on a fishing trip to the Banks; three men only being on deck dressed in fishermen's apparel, with buff caps on. The 'Eagle,' on perceiving the smack, immediately gave chase, and after coming up with her and finding she had live stock on board, ordered her to go down to the Commodore, then five miles dis- tant. The helmsman of the smack answered, 'Ay! ay, sir !' and apparently put up the helm for that purpose, which brought him alongside the 'Eagle,' not three yards distant. The watchword 'Lawrence' was then given, when the armed men rushed on deck from their hiding places and poured into her a volley of musketry which struck the crew with dismay, and drove them so precipi- tately into the hold that they had not time to strike the flag. Seeing the enemy's deck clear, Sailingmaster Per- cival, who commanded the expedition, ordered the men to cease from firing, upon which one of the men came out the hold and struck the 'Eagle's' colors. They had on board a thirty-two pound brass howitzer loaded with canister shot, but so sudden was the surprise they had not time to discharge it. The crew of the 'Eagle' con- sisted of H. Morris, master's mate of the Poictiers, W. Price, midshipman, and eleven seamen and marines. Mr. Morris was killed, Mr. Price mortally wounded, and one marine killed and one wounded. The 'Eagle,' with the prisoners, arrived off the Battery in the afternoon and landed the prisoners at Whitehall, amid the shouts and plaudits of thousands of spectators assembled at the Battery to celebrate the anniversary of independence. Mr. Morris was buried at Sandy Hook with military honors. Mr. Price was carried to New York, where on
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
Thursday he died, and was buried with military cere- monies in St. Paul's churchyard."
A traditionary version of this affair, as related by the late Judge Job F. Randolph, of Barnegat, says that Percival wished to make his boat appear as a market boat : that he placed one of his men on a seat close to the bulwark disguised as an old Quakerish looking farmer, with broad-brimmed hat and long staff in hand, while he looked like an ignorant boor at the wheel, and by his answers made the British think he was half-witted. When ordered to drop alongside, under threat of being fired into, he made a silly reply to the effect, "You had better not try it, for dad's big molasses jug is on deck, and if you broke that, he would make you sorry for it."
THE SKIRMISH AT MANAHAWKEN.
At one time it was rumored that the Refugee, Cap- tain John Bacon, with a party of his maranders, was on his way to Manahawken, on a plundering expedition, and such of the militia as could be notified, were hastily summoned together at Captain Randolph's house to pre- pare to meet them. The handful of militia remained on the alert the greater part of the night, but towards morning, finding the enemy failed to appear, they con- cluded it was a false alarm, and retired to sleep, after stationing sentinels. Tradition says that the sentinels were stationed on the main road, two above the hotel, and two below, and that on one post were Jeremiah Ben- nett and Job Randolph, and on the other, Seth Crane and Samuel Bennett, and that Captain Randolph superin- tended the lookont.
The Refugees came down the road from the north, and the first intimation the sentinels stationed near the old Baptist church had of their approach, was hearing their bayonets strike together as they were marching. The sentinels halte l long enough to see that the party was quite large, double the number of the militia, and hring, ran across the fields to give the alarm. By the
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THE SKIRMISH AT MANAHAWKEN.
time the few militia were aroused, the Refugees were abreast of the house, and before the Americans could form, they were fired upon, and Lines Pangburn killed, and Sylvester Tilton severely wounded. The militia were compelled to retreat down the lane before they could organize, when, finding the Refugees had the larger force, and were well armed, they were reluctantly compelled to decline pursuing them. The Refugees passed down the road towards West Creek.
Tilton, who was so severely wounded, recovered almost miraculously, as the ball passed clear through him, going in by one shoulder and out at his breast ; the physician, as is well authenticated, passed a silk hand- kerchief completely through the wound. After the war was over, Tilton removed to Colt's Neck, where it is believed some of his descendants now live. Lines Pang- burn, who was killed, was probably the same person who aided in organizing the Baptist church at Manahawken, was the first delegate to the General Association, and also the man referred to so very kindly by Rev. John Murray, as " Esquire " Pangburn.
Sylvester Tilton always believed that a Refugee named Brewer, was the man who wounded him, and he vowed to have revenge if he should ever meet him.
Several years after the war closed, he heard that Brewer was at a certain place, and he started after him unarmed, though he knew Brewer was always well pro- vided with weapons. He found Brewer and closed in on him before the Refugee could avail himself of weapons, and gave him a most unmerciful beating; it would prob- ably have fared worse with Brewer but for the interfer- ence of a much esteemed Quaker named James Willets. After Tilton had finished, he told Brewer, "You scoun- drel, you tried to kill me once, and I have now settled with you for it, and you've got to leave here and follow the rest of your gang." The rest of the Refugees had fled to Nova Scotia.
After the war the widow of Lines Pangburn applied to the court at Freehold for relief and the following is
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
a copy of the record in the Clerk's office :
" To the Honorable Court of Quarter Sessions to be holden in and for the county of Monmouth. WHEREAS L. Pangburn, a militiaman, an inhabitant of Stafford, under command of Captain Joseph Randolph, who was shot dead as he stood on guard, by a party of Refugees, on the thirty-first day of December, 1780, in the pres- ence of Sylvester Tilton (who was shot through with a bullet at the same time) and Reuben Randolph, both being sworn and affirmed before me, Amos Pharo, say the above facts are true.
SYLVESTER TILTON, REUBEN RANDOLPH.
AMOS PHARO.
Now the widow of him, the deceased, by the name of Ann Pangburn, prays that your Honors may give her some aid for her support as she is blind and in low cir- cumstances.
The Court allowed her half pay."
BATTLE MONUMENT, FREEHOLD.
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
THE BATTLE MONUMENT.
EFFORTS TO ERECT IT.
In 1846 and in 1854 special efforts were made to ac- complish the erection of a monument to commemorate the Battle of Monmouth. The first step taken was the publication of an advertisement in the Monmouth In- quirer of June 18, 1846, and was as follows :
MONUMENT
ON MONMOUTH BATTLE-GROUND.
THE citizens of Monmouth county, who are in favor of taking measures
T to erect a monument to commemorate the Battle of Monmouth, are re- quested to meet in the Court House, in the village of Freehold, on SAT- ÚRDAY, the 27th inst., at 3 o'clock, P. M.
JOHN HULL, WILLIAM H. BENNETT, ENOCH COWARD,
D. V. MCLEAN,
A. C. MCLEAN,
J. B. THROCKMORTON,
H. D. POLHEMUS, B. F. RANDOLPH.
Freehold, June 18, 1846.
Next, a copy of the Democrat of July 2, 1846, con- tained a report of the proceedings of the meeting as follows :
MONUMENTAL MEETING.
A call for a meeting of the inhabitants of the county of Monmouth, to take measures to erect a monument in commemoration of the Battle of Monmouth, having been published in the Freehold papers, a number of persons met at the time appointed.
Enoch Coward, Sen., was called to the chair, and A. C. McLean appointed Secretary.
The object of the meeting was stated by Rev. D. V. McLean, and remarks made by J. B. Throckmorton, B. Connolly, Rev. A. Marcellus and others.
The following resolutions were offered by D. B. Mc- Lean, and adopted :
1. Resolved, That it is the duty of a grateful posterity to commemorate not only in their hearts, but by suitable monuments, the noble deeds of their fathers, and the important events in their history.
2. Resolved, That among the important events of our Revolutionary struggle, the Battle of Monmouth should never be forgotten.
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THE BATTLE MONUMENT.
3. Resolved, That we believe the time has fully come when the citizens of Monmouth county should unite and erect a suitable monument to com- memorate that important event.
4. Resolved, That the proceedings of this meeting be published in the Freehold papers.
The meeting then adjourned to meet in the Court House on the 4th day of August, at 2 o'clock, P. M.
From the Monmouth Inquirer, August 6, 1846. MONUMENT MEETING.
The adjourned meeting, called to take into further consideration the propriety and importance of erecting a monument to designate the ground and to commemorate the Battle of Monmouth, convened in the court room, during the recess of court, on Tuesday. A considerable number were present, among whom we noticed some of our most estimable and influential citizens. The meeting was temporarily organized by the appointment of THOMAS G. HAIGHT, President, and AMIZI C. MCLEAN, Esq,, Secre- tary. It was, therefore, determined to organize a per- manent association to be called " The Monmouth Monu- ment Association," for the accomplishment of this purpose. A constitution was then offered by Rev. D. V. McLean, which was taken up, section by section, and, with a few immaterial alterations, adopted. The officers of the association are a President, one Vice-President from each township, a Treasurer and Secretary, and a committee for the circulation of subscriptions and the collection of funds, consisting of three from each town- ship. The contribution of fifty cents will constitute an individual a member of this association. When the monument is erected, the organization and the proceed- ings of the association, with the subscription books containing the names of those who shall contribute towards the erection, will be placed securely in the base of the Monument, there to remain until some convulsion of nature or the destroying hand of man shall prostrate it with the earth. Thus by contributing fifty cents the name of each individual will be transmitted to posterity down to the latest ages. The following are the names
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HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
of the permanent officers and committees of the associ- ation :
President-THOMAS G. HAIGHT.
Vice-Presidents-James S. Lawrence, Esq., of Up- per Freehold ; Thomas M. Perrine, of Millstone ; James W. Andrews, of Freehold; William Little, of Middle- town; Lyttleton White, of Shrewsbury ; Halsted Wain- right, of Howell ; Samuel C. Dunham, of Dover; Edward Allen, of Jackson ; John Meirs, of Plumsted; Samuel Birdsall, of Union ; David W. Moore, of Stafford.
Treasurer-Thomas H. Arrowsmith.
Secretary-A. C. McLean.
Managers.
Upper Freehold .- Thomas Miller, John Cox and Augustus Ivins.
Millstone .- William P. Forman, Rev. Charles F. Worrell and Joseph J. Ely.
Freehold .- Robert E. Craig, Enoch L. Coward and Samuel Conover.
Middletown .- Dr. Edward Taylor, Asbury Fountain and Daniel Holmes.
Shrewsbury .- Thomas E. Combs, Dr. John R. Cono- ver and James Green.
Howell .- Dr. Robert Laird, John S. Forman and Andrew Simpson.
Jackson .- William Allen, William Francis and
-
Horner.
Dover .- Dr. Lewis Lane, Anthony Ivins, Jr. and David Jeffrey.
Union .- John Tilton, William Birdsall and Joseph Holmes.
Stafford .- Samuel M. Oliphant, John Willits and Dr. A. G. Hankinson.
THE MOVEMENT OF 1854.
The movement of 1854, referred to, took no definite shape. It originated with Major S. S. Forman, of Syra- cuse, New York, a native of Monmouth, and who went over the battle-field the day after the battle, being at that time only thirteen years of age. Happening to fall in with a stray copy of the Democrat it revived old recol- lections, and he wrote the editor a letter, which was published, in which he referred to the movement of 1846, and urged that a monument ought to be erected on some
HISTORY OF THE BATTLE MONUMENT ORGANIZATION. 323
spot in or adjacent to the village, where it would be of easy access to visitors.
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