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 30
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 30
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48
C
Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek that empties into Metete- ennk, 11; Cedar Bridge Creek, near Metetecunk, 33; Calf Creek 1775; 1801, 28 39; Cold Spring, Cold Spring Run crosses road from Toms River to Cross-
GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
wicks, 19; Coward's Ford, or Deer Ford, above Schenck's mill, 34; Cournshannock, 13; (near Hur- ricane ?) Congasee Branch, 29; Congasee Pond, 29 ; Cabin Creek, Cabin Branch, Cabin Brook, 29; Cabin Brook, (John Pierce's), 23; also called Polo Bridge Branch, 16; also called John Pierce's Branch, 16; Cowan's Branch of Ridgway, (13?), Crosswicks Creek, New Egypt; Cay Creek, Oyster Creek, 6-9; Cox & Mead's sawmill, Oyster Creek, 24; Collins' Zeb. 27 37 mill, 44-7, 55; Cube Run, 41-2; Cum- berland Neck (on largest map) between Borden's Run and next Branch south; Cumberland (Shataquohong) 8-23 ; Clayton, (Asher), Swamp, 9. D
Davenport Branch, 12; Davenport Tavern Branch, (1750) 13; Daniels' Branch, Cedar Creek ; Dr. Johnson's Long Swamp, 24; Dr. Johnson's Island, Dillon's Island, (1761) 24-28 ; Delongs, 41 (42 ?) ; Deer Pond, (Davenport ?) 22.
E
Elisha's Branch, Emley's grist mill (1792) on Jake's Branch, 32; Eagle Point, Toms River, 27; Eastwood's sawmill, Cedar Creek, 9; (old sawmill 15) Elbow Brook, or Lyells' sawmill branch, 16-18; Evering- ham sawmill (1750), 15-26; Emley Saml's Swamp (Black Creek ?), 16.
F
Fishing or Kettle Creek, 12-26; French's Swamp, near Hurricane, 13; Forked Branch, Hurricane; Forked Branch, Dene's Mill ; Forked Gully, on north branch Toms River, a little above Dene's Mill, 35; Factory Branch, Cedar Creek ; Fagan, (Philip,) house, 8; Federal Furnace, 33-7-8; Folly Dam Branch, 34. G
Grassy Hollow, on Toms River, 35; Goodwater, Green Branch (Wrangle ?), Green Branch Kettle Creek, 33; Gauntt's Branch, head Rancocus; Goodluck Road, (1750), 14, (1761), 22; Grave, The 21; Gumbertson, Ben., sawmill, 37-8; Gulick's sawmill, (Obhonon), 43 ; Grandin's Folly, 19, (on Bennett's Run ?)
366
HISTORY OF MONMOUTHI AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
II
Hurricane Branch, Hurricane Swamp, Hurricane Woods, 25 ; Harris Branch, Hakamaha, 8; Half-Way Daven- port, 16; Holmes & Robins' sawmill, 32; Homer, Joshua, (1762) sawmill, (Ridgway's) 24; Hickory Tavern, 37; Hanover Furnace, Hulett's Swamp, (Cedar Creek ?) 11 ; Hulett, Robert, (1748) dwelling Goodluck, 12-16; Hedding, Marcus, dam, (1748) 12; Holmes, D. and J., mill, (1766), 25; Daniel and John p. 27); On Sunken Branch, probably near where it emptied into Wrangle (1792), 32; Howell, Matthew, house, head north branch Mosquito Cove (1795), 34; Hellen, Joseph, field, now Van Nott's, between Kettle Creek and north branch Moscheto Cove (1796), 35.
H
Imlay, David, (1799) grist mill, 38; Jake's Branch, 38; Irish Branch to Davenport, 37; Irish Mills (Elisha Lawrence), 18; Indian Stage, 22 ; Indian Hill or Stone Hill, 34-6-9; Island Swamp, 15-18; Ivins, Caleb, (1792) saw mill, 31.
J
Jones, Christopher, 41; Jack's Bridge over Pumpshire, Jake's Branch (1761), 23; Jeffries' Branch of Jake's, 31; Jeffries Bridge, Joseph Lawrence's Swamp, 10; Johnson, Dr., Long Swamp, 14 ; Johnson, Dr., Island, 14; Jacob's sawmill, (1760) 22.
K
Kettle Creek, 11-19-20; Kettle or Fishing Creek, 12-26; Kettle Creek, sawmill thereon, 11.
Lawn Swamp, Toms River; Long Swamp or Wegnae- mesee, 9, 10, 24; Dr. Johnson's Long Swamp, 14 ; Luker Daniel's house, 12; Luker's Ferry (1749) 12- 18 ; Luker's Branch, Wrangle 22, Davenport, 17, 22, 1 1-4 miles from Tom's River, 22; Luker's Bridge, over Davenport, 21; Luker, Thomas, house 29; Lyell's Saw Mill Brook or Elbow Branch, 16, 18; Longacoming, 25, above Schenck's Mill; Lawrence (Jos.) Swamp 10.
367
GEOGRAPHICAL INDEX.
M
Mill Creek or Quail Run ; Mamapaqua or Paqua, 1740 9, (1750) 15, 16, 26, 38, 40 ; Meteteconk Bridge (1761) 22; Mirey Run, N. E. side N. E. branch Tom's River, 11, runs into about Irish Mills (Largest map Ocean Co.); Maple Root, 9, 12, 14; Magonagasa Creek falls into Success, 21; Millstone River, 9, 13; Montgomery Bridge (12 ?) over Davenport, 22; Mill Hill, Forked River (1751) 16, 17; Moscheto Cove (1690) 17, 34; Moscheto Cove, South Branch, 17 ; Moscheto Cove, Timothy Willett's house, 17; Moscheto Cove Creek, 18; Morgan Branch or Gully, 23.
N
Naked Branch, Cedar Creek ; New England Branch, 27. 0
Obhonon, 8-16 ; Oyster Creek or Cay Creek, 5, 9; Oyster Creek or Forked River, 8, 9; Old Hokomaha, 8. P
Paqua; Pine Brook, 8, 15; Pumpshear's Creek, 18, 34; 32, 9, 41 ; Pumpshear's Branch, Moscheto Cove, 34- 9 : Pumpshear's Swamp, 37 (South side Moscheto, 39 ; Jack's Bridge Swamp, 39, (Is this the "Pompshire" of Smith's Hist. Indian Treaty ?) ; Pole Bridge Run, South side Success, opposite Pole Bridge Run, 12- 16; Pole Bridge Branch of Toms River, or John Pierce's Branch, 16; Pole Bridge Branch head- water of Rancocus in Manchester (37); Pas- conassa or Salter's Swamp, 10; Potter's saw- mills, (1775) 28; Potter's Run, 8; Potter's Creek ; Polhemus' Landing, (1795) 35 ; Polhemus' saw-mill, (1800) 39; John Pierce's tract, 12; Pierce's Cabin Brook, 23 ; Pine Tavern, 37 : Phillips' Road, (1749)13; Pangburn's Mill (1753) 18-29.
R
Ridgeway or South Branch of Tom's River ; Randolph Branch, Cedar Creek, 29; Round Swamp or Mana- paqua, 9; Riding Over Place, 9-10; Reedy Island, 38 ; Reedy Creek, near Kettle Creek, probably Met- eteconk Neck, 38 ; Runnells, James, house South side
368
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
Meteteconk ; Ridgway's saw-mill (1788) 31-28 ; Ran- dolph-Randall's saw-mill, 32.
S
South Run of Tom's River, below Sutton's Cabin, 38-41; Stone Figure (1790) 37 ; Stone Hill or Indian Hill, 34-6; South Branch Tom's River, 38; Snecess Mill, 12 (probably Edward Beake's): Success Dwelling House, 16; Success Mill Brook, 10; Slab Branch of Toms River, (32?); Slab Bridge Run, South of Toms River, 32, 38, 40-3; Sunken Branch, Toms River, of Wrangle 32 ; Shamoe, (Branch of Ridgway ;) Shataquchong or Cumberland (or Borden's Run?) Salter's Swamp on Hurricane, 10; Salter's Swamp, Black's brook, 19 ; Sloop Creek, 10; Starkie's Cedar Swamp, [Hurricane,] 11; Starkie's Cellar 11 : Shreve's Swamp, Obhonon, 11: Schenck's Mill (1761) Toms River. 23 -30; Schenck's house, 23; Schenck's Mill, Kettle Creek, 24 ; Schenck's saw-mill. formerly Applegate's, 32: Southard's Neck on Wrangle. 28.
₸
Tice's Bridge, 33; Tice's Brook, 33; Tice Van Horn's Brook: Tice's Landing, Forks Toms River, 42; Tunes' Brook and Creek (1799) 38-9: Tilton's saw- mill, 18.
U
Union Branch ; Union saw-mill, 32-38 : Union Brook that falls into Wrangle, 18 [? ].
Van Horn's Brook, [1752] 18; Van Horn's (Matthew) Mill [1752|18; Van Horn, old mill, [1795] 33; Van Horn [Tice] Bridge and Branch, 33: Van Horn [ Mat. ] Bridge [1760 | 22.
Wrangle Creek [1750 | 13 ; Webb's Mill (1796) 36: Webb's Mill Branch: Wegnaemesee or Long Swamp, 9; White Oak Hollow, South side Toms River road to (ien. Mounts, 14; White Oak Bottom ; Wires' | Tim- othy | [1764 ] saw-mill brook, 23 ; Williams, John, saw- mill [1755] 19.
369
EARLY SURVEYS IN OCEAN COUNTY.
Y Yankee Bridge | Davenport | 22; Yetman, John, 40.
Zeb. Collins, 27 37. Z
EARLY SURVEYS IN OCEAN COUNTY.
It is evident that not long after Middletown and Shrewsbury were settled, explorations were made in be- half of the proprietors in what is now Ocean County, particularly of land along the seaboard and Barnegat Bay. In 1685, the Governor and proprietors, from their office in London, issued "Instructions concerning setting out of Land," in which they say :
VI. That wherever there is a convenient plot of land lving together containing twenty-four thousand acres, as we are informed will more especially be at Barnegat, it be divided and marked into twenty-four parts, a thousand acres to each propriety, and the parts being made as equal as can be for quality and situation; the first comers presently settling, are to have the choice of the division, and where several stand equal in that respect upon equal terms and time of settling, it be determined by lot. And that such properties as are in the rights of minors or widows, which as by accident may want proxies, or be ignorant of things there, may not be prejudiced, and yet such plots may not remain unsettled, the Deputy Gover- nor and Commissioners are allowed to let small parts in the chief places of settlement, upon the shares of such proprietors at some small fee per annum to poorfamilies, not exceeding fifty acres to a family to secure the quantity."
In old patents and surveys, all the water from Little Egg Harbor to the head of the bay near Manasquan was called Barnegat Bay and the land adjoining was often called Barnegat.
The following is a list of early surveys in what is now Ocean county. The large tracts were for proprie- tary rights. The smaller tracts were what were called
370
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
"headlands." As previously stated, the proprietors, in their grants and concessions, agreed to give to actual set- tlers a certain number of acres for each head in the family ; to each man 120 acres ; to his wife 120 acres ; to each child 90 or 60 acres, etc. The settler could take this land all in one body or part in one place and part in another.
REV. WILLIAM MILLS.
AN OLD MONMOUTH PREACHER AND A HERO OF THE WAR.
The following sketch of Mr. Mills is by Rev. George A. Raybold, author of Methodism in West Jersey, whose ministrations in Ocean and Monmouth counties some fifty years ago are favorably remembered by many old citizens. " Mr. Mills was a native of Monmouth, of Quaker descent. The fire of patriotic feeling induced him, Quaker as he was, in 1776, to enter the American army in which he became an officer. He was taken prisoner by the British and was sent, after being changed from - one vessel to another, to the West Indies. At length he was carried to Europe, fiom whence at the close of the war, he returned home and again settled in New Jersey. About the year 1792 the Methodist preachers came into the region of country where he resided. His wife soli- cited him to hear them. but he resisted, stating his belief that he had been so wicked his day of grace was past. By a remarkable dream he was at length convinced that there was mercy for him. He then attended the means of grace, until as he sought the Lord with all his heart. he soon found peace. He became a member of the first class formed in the vicinity of Shrewsbury in Monmouth. Soon after, he began to exhort others and was appointed class leader : and in the spring of 1799 he was received into the traveling connection. His labors as an itiner- ant began on Milford circuit, Delaware, from whence he was sent to various places and finally returned to Jersey.
In 1813 he was sent to Freehold, the place of his nativity and the first field of his Christian efforts. The
371
REMARKABLE INDIAN.
soldier who had faced death at the cannon's mouth on the land and on the sea, now, as his end approached, in reality felt no fear. He had a presentiment of his death and told his wife that "death seemed to follow him everywhere." His zeal in religious matters increased. The last time he left home he gave his wife sundry directions and advice in case he should die. He started as well as usual, and filled all his appointments, preach- ing most fervently until a short time before his death. On the fourth of December he left Long Branch, met class, and then returned to Mr. Lippencott's at the Branch. On Sunday morning he went into a room in Mr. Lippencott's to prepare for the service in the church, which was to commence at half-past ten o'clock. The congregation was then collecting and the family, think- ing he stayed too long in the chamber, sent in to know the cause and found him fallen in a fit of apoplexy, almost deprived of sense. After a time lie revived a little and on being asked if they should send for medical aid he replied : "The Lord is the best physician." At about twelve o'clock the stupor and other unfavorable symptoms returned ; he lingered until about six the next morning and then peacefully departed for a world of rest.
In the year 1812, the year previous to Mr. Mills being sent to preach in Freehold circuit, the number of members embraced in the charge was seven hundred and thirty-six.
A REMARKABLE INDIAN.
The following is an additional well-authenticated account of that noted Indian character, INDIAN WILL, originally furnished to the Shore Press :
They sleep together; their ancient halls molder away. Ghosts are seen there at noon ; the valley is silent, and the people shun the place of Lamoi .-- Ossian's War of Curos.
Long, long years ago, when this section of country bordering on the Atlantic ocean was one continuous wild
372
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
waste, with nothing save stinted pines and scrub oak to greet the eye of the unfortunate wanderer who might be traveling this way, there was a kind of half civilized Indian, who lived at Indian Field, at the head of Shark River, and was known to the inhabitants around as Indian Will. His old cabin was a half civilized looking affair, composed of mortar, stone, logs, and hides, the lat- ter formerly covering the animals that were so unfortu- nate as to fall beneath the fatal point of his index finger -for legend has it that Will was gifted with a strange power ; whenever an animal or fowl became the object of his desire all he had to do was to point at it with his index finger, and the same would fall dead, as if stricken by a bullet or a flint-headed arrow.
According to Indian fashion, Will was a married man ; his squaw came, so it is said, from the western section of New Jersey, and like himself, was from the old Delaware tribe of Indians, whose early history is enshrined in quite a halo of glory. Will was, despite his half civilized life, a true Indian, possessing all the stoicism of his race, and the same indifference to the taking of human life, when it in any way conflicted with his whims. Hannah, like all Indian wives, of the two- she and her husband-had the hardest time of it. She dressed the game and cleaned the fish, and, in fact, did all the work there was to be done in and around the cabin, while her lord and master, Indian Will, was off on fishing excursions, or in the forest of stinted pines, point- ing his finger at a limping rabbit, opossum, or quail, as it chanced to be.
One day Indian Will was out on a hunting expedi- tion, and left Hannah, who was sick with the measles, to get along the best she could in the lone cabin. In a little patch just back of the cabin Will had managed to get up sufficient gumption to plant some beans, and at the time to which we refer they were ripe and ready for picking. As I said just back, Hannah had the measles ; her appetite was not of that kind that made what she had been eating heretofore palatable ; she hardly knew
373
A REMARKABLE INDIAN.
what she did want ; she hankered after something, and in an unfortunate moment her eyes rested on the beans ; they were just what she wanted ; so, without caring, or at least heeding the consequences, she picked them and put them in the iron pot in company with a bit of opossum. The fire was soon blazing on the rude hearth, over which hung the sooty crane, from which was pen- dant the iron pot containing the beans and opossum. Hannah ate heartily of the savory dish, and the results were, as far as her feelings were concerned, decidedly ben- eficial, but as far as her future welfare was concerned it was otherwise. The legend saith nought of the extent of time Will was absent, but, at all events, when he returned he noticed, the first thing of all, that some one had been in his bean patch and annihilated all hopes of his anent the anticipated feast. Hannah was still under the influence of her pleasant repast when she was confronted by her infuriated lord.
"Who," he exclaimed, "has eaten my beans ?"
Poor Hannah, with a stoicism peculiar to her race, replied, "I did !"
" Then you shall die," exclaimed her savage mate ; " I will drown you !"
Poor Hannah made no reply, save a pantomimic one, which was the embodiment of resignation.
Indian Will was unrelenting. He commanded his dusky spouse to direct her footsteps to the neighboring river, which was in full view of the cabin, and followed with strident gait close behind her. Arriving at the water's edge, he seized the unresisting offender, and, with apparent ease, plunged her head under the element. After holding her there for a number of minutes he drew her head out, when she gave a few gasps, indicating that life was not extinct. Will again plunged her, as before, and when he again drew her out, poor Hannah was dead. The place where she was drowned is still known as Deep Hole. Neath a gnarled willow in the immediate neighborhood, he buried her, with her feet toward the West; by her side he placed a pone of
374
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
Indian bread and some game, so that she might have something to eat while on her journey to the happy hunting ground. This being done, the savage went about his business, perfectly unconcerned, but in all probability pained somewhat to know that in the future he would have to be his own servant. Time passed on, I know not how many weeks it was, when Hannah's brothers began to wonder why they did not hear from her, or why she did not pay them a visit, as it had been her wont in times passed. Among themselves they got to talking over the matter one day, when it was decided among them that the brother, who rejoiced under the un- Indian name of Jacob, should pay a visit to Indian Field and ascertain how matters stood. Jacob's journey was on foot, so it necessarily took him a number of days to accomplish the task. Arriving at Will's cabin, he found him just preparing some game for the appeasement of his gastric longings.
Jacob was surprised-that is, in the sense that an Indian is surprised-to see the mate of his sister in such an ignoble occupation, and asked Will where Hannah was.
" I drowned her," replied Will, " because she ate my beans."
"She was my sister," rejoined Jacob, "and it falls on me to avenge her death, so you must prepare to die. Let the struggle between us take place by yon bank, so that the same water that beheld Hannah's death may also witness thine."
"Will Hannah's brother permit me to eat, and join with me in the feast, ere we embrace in the death struggle ?"
" Be it so," replied Jacob, and both sat down and ate of the food, while their respective faces betrayed no signs of the ominous thoughts that were burdening their minds.
During the repast not a word was spoken by either Will or Jacob. The ceremony was eventually over, when the two walked in single file, Will leading the way,
375
A REMARKABLE INDIAN.
until they came near to the place still designated as the Deep Hole ; here they stopped and for a moment stood face to face. Jacob was the first to move ; he rushed forward and in an instant they closed in on one another. The struggle for mastery lasted for some time, but at last Will's foot came in contact with a stubble, and clown he went, with Jacob at the top; the latter then pulled from his belt a long keen knife, with which he intended to fulfill his mission. Jacob had his victim, as it were, pinioned to the ground, and at his mercy, but being, as it were, controlled by a spirit of magnanimity, he said :
" He who brought Hannah to an untimely end can now cast his eyes to the West, and for the last time gaze on the setting sun."
Will availed himself of the opportunity, and when doing so, Jacob, thinking his victim secure, began fumb- ling around his belt for a bit of Indian weed, for he became possessed with an irresistible desire to exercise his molars, and in an unguarded moment relieved his arm from confinement, and seizing a pine knot, dealt Jacob a powerful blow in the temple, and over he toppled, as lifelesss as a defunct herring.
Having escaped from his peril, Will arose from his late uncomfortable position, and with a grunt of satisfac- tion gazed on the prostrate form of his would-be slayer. He did not take the trouble to bury his victim, but left him where he died, thinking the wild beast and buzzard could attend to the case better than he could.
A number of days following the last mentioned fact some circumstances led Indian Will to pass by the spot where it occurred, when from some cause he fancied he heard the body snore, so he came to the conclusion that Jacob was only enjoying a long sleep, and fearing he might awake at any time and give him further trouble, jumped several times on the body, and, finally, after sat- isfying himself that Jacob was dead, indifferently covered it with earth and leaves and passed on, and from all in- dications thought no more of it.
376
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
Will was an Indian, and so, for that reason, remorse was something that never bothered him. The days went by as days before the late tragic event had done. He wandered through the echoing forests, and during moonlight nights he indulged in his favorite pastime of bringing down the opossum and coon by the pointing of his fatal finger. When not engaged in hunting he would linger around the old village inn or his secluded cabin, and revel in imaginary bliss by drinking the white man's firewater whenever he could get it.
One day he was stretched out at full length, under the shade of a tree which stood by his cabin ; he was not sleeping, but evidently was taking his ease, when he was brought to a realization of imminent peril by the appear- ance of Jacob's three brothers, who from the fact of his not returning according to promise, led them to come in search of him, and also to inquire into the matter that was the cause of his journey.
Will made no effort to evade the questions that were addressed to him by the three brothers. He told them poor Hannah was dead; that he drowned her because she ate his beans ; also that Jacob was dead ; contrary to his expectations, in a death struggle Jacob was the victim and not he.
The three brothers heard the story, at the conclu- sion of which they in unison gave significant grunts, when one, who acted as spokesman, told Will his time had come, and that he must make himself ready for death.
With evident resignation, Will told his brother that he was willing to die ; that life hal ceased to possess its charms ; but he made one request, that was that they procure a gallon of firewater, so that they together might have a happy time before he took his final departure to join his poor Hannah in the land of the Great Spirit. The brothers assented to Will's request, the firewater was procured, and in the cabin of the condemned Will the happy times commenced. The brothers were not back- ward in drinking liberally of the firewater, and in due
377
A REMARKABLE INDIAN.
course of time were fully under its influence, and event- ually dropped, one after the other, into a drunken slum- ber. Will, in the meantime, though he begrudged the brothers the whiskey they drank, made up his mind that life was dearer than it, and so pretended to drink a great deal more than he actually did, and from all indications was as drunk as they were ; but when snoring on the part of the three avengers commenced, Will cautiously assumed a new role, and began business. Will procured a tomahawk, which was near at hand, and began the work of destruction. The brother who received the first attention evidently did not know who struck him, but the second one who was the recipient of the murderous blow was aroused to that extent that he was enabled to give birth to several unearthly sounds before he resigned his hold on life. The noise made by the expiring Indian aroused the third brother, and would have been the means of frustrating Will's plan, had not the latter's dog dashed to the rescue; he was a knowing canine, and seemingly comprehended the whole affair, for he seized the awakened Indian by the throat and held him in posi- tion until his master came forward and culminated his murderous plan. Will stood up in his cabin, and looking upon the bloody work he had accomplished, stoically said : "Poor Hannah's gone-four good brothers gone, too-all because poor Hannah ate my beans! Ugh!"
Without much ado Will dragged the bodies of the defunct Indians out of his cabin. and at a spot a few ro:ls distant gave them what he thought to be a proper burial. He then returned to his cabin and resolved himself into a committee of investigation to ascertain the quantity of whisky left for his consumption.
Following his last achievement Will came to the conclusion that poor Hannah's relatives would give him no more trouble. The months rolled by and he still con- tinned his life of hunting and fishing, but for some reason a kind of cloud seemed to hang over his life ; perhaps it was owing to the fact that Will's love for firewater increased anl interfered with his success in obtaining
378
HISTORY OF MONMOUTH AND OCEAN COUNTIES.
that which enabled him to purchase the " Oh, be joyful."
Near Indian Field, in Will's time, there stood an inn, the like of which were common in those days, where whiskey was unblushingly sold, for every one was privi- leged to become tipsy if he only possessed the neces- sary wherewithal. At the bar of this old inn, at the time to which I have a particular reference, Indian Will had become an habitual hanger-on ; he neglected his former occupation of hunting and fishing, and owing to this fact was frequently without means to purchase his favorite beverage. Will had already became a debtor to the inu- keeper, and so, when he asked for more whiskey on trust, he was flatly refused : his only reply to the innkeeper's fiat was an habitual "Ugh!" and with the tread of of- fended dignity he strutted out of the room, and directed his course toward the beach.
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