USA > New Jersey > Morris County > A history of Morris County, New Jersey : embracing upwards of two centuries, 1710-1913, Volume I > Part 41
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Revolutionary Period-When the declaration of war was announced by the Continental Congress the quiet little town of Chatham came forward with its aid for the great cause. There had been much talk of British op- pression and the likelihood of war, and when the final decision was made many were ready to enlist in the army. From this time forth until the close of the conflict Chatham was the scene of constant military maneuvers. Part of the army was doubtlessly kept stationed here throughout the whole eight years following 1775. Lord Stirling of Basking Ridge assembled troops in the early part of 1776, and men from Chatham joined these ranks. A liberty pole was raised in front of Day's Tavern. Young men joined them- selves into battalions and began drilling. An eighteen pound cannon was planted on Prospect Hill, since called Hobart's Hill, to give the alarm by day in case of the approach of the enemy and a tar barrel was fixed on the top of a pole near by to be set on fire to give the alarm by night.
November of 1776 was a time that tried the loyalty of the staunchest patriot. Washington had lost at White Plains; Fort Washington was taken November 16th ; Fort Lee was evacuated on the 18th; and the retreat across New Jersey began, with the British close upon the rear guard of the army. Families in Elizabeth Town and Newark, seeing the sorry plight in which they would be placed by the British occupation, hastily loaded their belong- ings and started over the turnpike road westward. For many days the highway through Chatham was the scene of passing families with wagon loads of personal property seeking safety beyond the Passaic river. To- gether with these were many soldiers who had left the army on account of sickness. General Charles Lee was ordered to follow Washington across the State with reinforcements. Washington wrote to him from Philadelphia saying "Do come on, your arrival may be fortunate." Leaving Peekskill, Lee reached Morristown, December 8, 1776, with his division of 4,000 men. In a letter written from the place to a committee of Congress he said, "If I was not taught to think the army with Gen. Washington had been considerably reinforced, I should immediately join him; but as I am assured he is very strong I should imagine we can make a better impres- sion by beating and harassing their detached parties in the rear, for which
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purpose a good post at Chatham seems the best calculated. It is at a happy distance from Newark, Elizabeth Town, Woodbridge and Bound Brook. We shall, I expect, annoy, distract, and consequently weaken them in a desultory war." ( American Archives, 5th Series, vol. iii. p 1121, and Life of Washington, Irving, chap. XLII.)
Evidently Lee came down to Chatham from Morristown to look over the ground, for on the same day, December 8, he wrote from Day's Tavern, Chatham: "In reply to Washington's letter by Maj. Hoope just received, I am extremely shocked to hear that your force is so inadequate to the necessity of your situation, as I had been taught to think you had been considerably reinforced. Your last letter proposing a plan of surprises and forced marches, convinced me that there was no danger of your being obliged to pass the Delaware; in consequence of which proposals, I have put myself in a position the most convenient to co-operate with you by attacking their rear.
I cannot persuade myself that Philadelphia is their object at present. *
* * It will be difficult, I am afraid to join you ; but cannot I do you more service by attacking their rear?" Washington re- plied instantly: "Philadelphia beyond all question is the object of the enemy's movements, and nothing less than our utmost exertions will pre- vent Gen. Howe from possessing it. The force I have is weak, and utterly incompetent to that end. I must therefore entreat you to push on with every possible succor you can bring." (Am. Archives, 5th Series, iii, 1138.)
On the 9th of December, Lee, who was stationed at Chatham, received information from Heath that three of the regiments detached under Gates from the Northern army had arrived from Albany at Peekskill. He in- stantly wrote to him to forward them to Morristown without loss of time. "I am in hopes to reconquer (if I may so express myself) the Jerseys. It was really in the hands of the enemy before my arrival."
Lee left Morristown a few days later, marched to Vealtown (Bernards- ville) and made his quarters at Basking Ridge, some distance from the encampment of his army where he was captured by the enemy. Gates at once started from Peekskill to march for Morristown, but got no further than Walpack, Sussex county, where he was snowed in. Lee at this time was known to have made many sarcastic remarks about the commander-in- chief, and wrote to Gates: "Entre nous, a certain great man is most damnably deficient.".
These actions, remarks, and responses by Charles Lee show the caliber of the man. He was ambitious to be commander-in-chief, set his opinions against those of Washington, attempted to persuade Congress that Washing- ton was incompetent, suggested mutiny within the army, and finally ex- posed himself to capture. His keeping his quarters at Chatham while his army was at Morristown was much in line with his practice at Basking Ridge and might have led to similar results.
Colonel Ford's militia was stationed back of Short Hills for the pur- pose of watching every movement of the enemy on the plains toward Elizabeth Town. Rev. Mr. Caldwell, who had removed with his fam- ily from Connecticut Farms to Turkey (New Providence), wrote to Gen- eral Lee on the 12th of December as follows: "At a Council of the Field Officers this morning, a majority of them advised to remove the brigade of militia back again to Chatham, for which they assign these reasons. Many of the Militia, rather fond of plunder and adventure, kept a continual scouting, which kept out so many detached parties, that the body was weakened ; and the enemy now being stronger at Elizabeth Town than they
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are, they thought they would better serve the cause by lying at Chatham till the expected army approaches for their support." [American Archives, 5th series, vol. 3, p. 1189.] This letter did not reach Gen. Lee for on the next morning he was captured. Colonel Ford evidently fell back to Chatham for on the night of December 17th he wrote the following letter from Chat- ham to General Heath: "We have since sunset had a brush with the enemy, four miles below this, in which we have suffered, and our militia much dis- heartened. They are all retreated to this place and will in all probability be attacked by day-break. The enemy, we have reason to believe, are double our numbers. If in your wisdom you can assist us, we may possibly beat them yet; but without your aid we can't stand. They are encamped (say 1000 British troops ) at Springfield, and will be joined by four hundred and fifty Waldeckers from Elizabeth Town, by the next morning's light." [Am. Arch., vol. 3, pp. 1235, 1260, 1277.] Jacob Ford Jr. was the colonel com- mandant of the American troops lying at Chatham. Major Spencer dis- patched a light horseman to Colonel Ford with word that the British were approaching Springfield. The colonel went immediately to his aid, the enemy was driven back, and a brief campaign followed in which the brave and courageous Colonel Ford was much exposed and exhausted. Soon afterwards he was seized with an attack of pneumonia and died in Jan- uary, 1777. [Morristown Bill of Mortality, p. 29.] A letter of Colonel Symmes gives a much more detailed account of this transaction. [N. J. Journal, No. 4636.]
On the 20th of December, 1776, General Maxwell was ordered by Washington to take command of about 800 militia and to annoy and harass the enemy in the vicinity of Elizabeth Town and to cut off their convoys. The state of affairs at this time was reported from Chatham by General McDougall as follows: "John Halstead left Elizabeth Town this morning at eight o'clock. Says there is no troops in Elizabeth Town but Waldeckers, the same that has been there for two weeks past. Says the drums beat this morning about day-break, and he understood they were to have marched; but that they did not, and the reason why, as he understood, was the badness of the weather. Knows not which way they were to march, but it is said they were to have a little march out o' town; that he thinks six or seven hundred British troops went through town the day before yesterday, near 12 o'clock towards Newark, and that they have not as yet returned." [Spark's Washington, book 4, pp. 239, 249.] How this information was communicated is not certain. However it is known that a faithful scout by the name of Karmel operated in this locality, and such information as here recorded may be accredited to him. Sylvanus Cobb Jr. in 1855 made this certain Karmel a hero of a novel called "Karmel the Scout," which was sub- sequently dramatized and played in New York City.
On the 30th of December Washington wrote from Trenton to General Maxwell, "Collect as large a force as possible at Chatham and after gaining the proper intelligence, endeavor to strike a stroke upon Elizabeth Town or that neighborhood." [Hatfield's Hist. Elizabeth Town, p. 454.] General Maxwell prepared at once to carry out these instructions. The victories at Trenton and Princeton followed soon after this, and the British in the vicinity of Elizabeth Town were thrown into consternation. General Max- well left Chatham, had a brush with the enemy at Springfield, compelled them to evacuate Newark, drove them out of Elizabeth Town, and fought them at Spank Town ( Rahway) a couple of hours. Maxwell held Elizabeth Town but the British did not leave the community for the first half of the
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year 1777. The whole country was put in a state of excitement. General Sullivan kept watch over the movements of the enemy while Maxwell occu- pied Elizabeth. "Their troops were continually moving from Chatham to Springfield, or from Westfield to Scotch Plains, watching for opportunities to cut off the foraging parties, or to pick up the scouts of the enemy. Skirmishes, more or less severe, were of almost daily occurrence." [Hat- field's Hist. Elizabeth Town, p. 459.] This winter was doubtless for the village of Chatham one of the most exciting of the whole war. It was dur- ing this season of 1776 and 1777 that Washington was encamped in the Lowantica Valley.
The northern part of the State was filled with Tories, and Morris county had its share of them. It was often hard to tell in what direction a man's sympathies lay. The entire country throughout this locality was filled with renegade disturbers and many were ready to take out "protection papers" and espouse the British cause. But with all the Tory spirit which permeated the country there were many staunch patriots in sympathy with the army at Lowantica and ready to make every effort possible to relieve them in their state of privation. Many of the soldiers were housed in the homes of patriots. Food and clothing were supplied from various parts of the community, and during the epidemic of smallpox much heroic service was rendered the suffering army.
Throughout the winter of '76 and '77 an armed sentinel was kept sta- tioned on Prospect Hill ready to signal the country far and wide through the burning of the tar barrel at night, or the booming of the "Old Sow" by day, should the enemy be seen advancing on the Elizabeth Town road toward Chatham. It is said that more than once the country was set ablaze with patriotic fervor, caused by the signals given from Prospect Hill during that winter. The following paragraph by Rev. Joseph F. Tuttle beautifully describes the condition of affairs: "There was continual excitement and solicitude. The alarm gun was firing, or the beacon light was burning, or the sounds of the fife and drum were heard, or companies of soldiers were passing and repassing, or the minute men of the vicinity were hurrying back and forth, or the commander-in-chief and his suite and life guards were going from or returning to headquarters, or some general parade was taking place upon the camp ground, or some Tory spies were seen prowling about, or some company of the enemy's troops under the conduct of Tory guides was committing depredations in various parts of the country, or some other thing of similar character was continually occurring to keep those who resided here in a state of excitement and fear, and it was no unusual thing to see General Washington and his accomplished lady mounted on bay horses, and accompanied by their faithful mulatto "Bill" and fifty to sixty mounted guards passing through the village with all eyes upon them." [Hist. Morris County, N. J., Munsell & Co., 1882, p. 192.] Many lives were lost during this winter through the scourge of smallpox and other diseases, and the moral standards of the community were broken down by the reckless practices of the soldiers.
Among the men who served their country during this winter of hard- ships those from the vicinity of Chatham were: Lieutenant Silas Hand, John Miller, Samuel Denman, John Minthorn, Jabez Titchenor, Lieutenant Noadiah Wade, Surgeon Peter Smith, Captain Benj. Carter, Lieutenant John Roberts, Luke Miller, Josiah Burnet, Jeremiah Carter, Cornelius Genung, Captain Thompson of the New Jersey artillery (This Mr. Thomp- son had both legs shot off at the battle of Springfield and died urging his
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soldiers never to give up to the enemy. He is said to have been captain of a company of soldiers here in Chatham, which drilled upon the ground, south of Main Street and east of Summit Avenue), Captain Eliakim Little of the New Jersey artillery (It was his company which by desperate fighting, held the enemy at bay for two hours until they were reinforced and the enemy routed at Springfield), Samuel Paul, John Bonnel, Robert Pollard (This man was shot through the body at Connecticut Farms, and yet sur- vived many years after the war was ended), Ephraim Sayre, James Brook- field, Second Lieutenant Samuel Day, Ellis Cook, Caleb Horton, Joseph Bruen, Benj. Harris, Captain William Day, Benj. Bonnel (He assisted in carting the guns which were captured by the Continental troops from a British sloop grounded in Elizabeth Town Creek. The guns were taken to the armory at Morristown.) Lieutenant Stephen Day, Captain John Howell, Colonel Seeley, Gilbert Bonnel, Wright Reding, Israel Lum (he fought in the battle of Monmouth), Samuel Lum, son of Israel, Benj. Robinson, Mat- thias Lum, Ed. McDonald, James Richardson, and Philip Lunney.
With all the heroism that was shown by the men of the country equally as great was the heroism shown by the women. They made clothing for the soldiers and helped care for the sick and the dead. In many instances women harrowed and plowed the fields and threshed the grain. It is said that the home of Aaron Ward located on Coleman's Hill, was always kept in readiness for General Washington. Whenever the soldiers came to the house, Mrs. Ward fed them with the best that could be had; and often the whole first floor was given over to them for lodging during the night, while the family occupied the rooms up stairs. On one occasion when a child of the family had the croup, Mrs. Ward in order to get medicine from the closet down stairs, was obliged to step over the bodies of the sleeping sol- diers who were packed in upon the kitchen floor. This is but one illustration of the hospitable spirit of the staunch Whigs of the town of Chatham.
Washington Irving, in his "Life of Washington," makes the following mention of the staunch patriotism of the citizens of Morris: "To the honor of the Magistrates and people of Jersey, Washington testifies that requisi- tions for supplies were punctually complied with. Jos. Tuttle says provi- sions came in with hearty good will from the farmers in Mendham, Chat- ham, Hanover and other rural places, together with stockings, shoes, coats, and blankets; while the women met together to knit and sew for the soldiery." (Life of Washington, vol. iv, p. 5.) The suffering at Valley Forge was scarcely more severe than that of the winter of '76-'77 at Lowantica.
In the fall of '77 General Sullivan by order of Washington left our community en route for Wilmington, Delaware. Chatham was consequently somewhat relieved from scenes of warfare until the winter of 1779. How- ever the town continued a military station. The Continental Congress on March 2, 1778, ordered that horses should be assembled in various parts of the state for the use of the army. Under the date of March 5th, 1778, advertisements were placed in the newspapers that purchases should be made at the following places : by Captain Harrison at Pennington, Colonel Sheldon at Chatham, Major Clough at Trenton, and Lieutenant Colonel White at Brunswick. [N. J. Gazette, Nos. 178, 180.] These men were the com- manding officers at the places mentioned. It is quite evident from this notice that even through the period from '76-'79, the crossing of the Passaic on the road to Elizabeth Town was sufficiently guarded.
Israel Day @
DAY'S LANE
Mathias. Ward
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Justice of the Peace
CHEAPSIDE ROAD
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Chatham in Revolutionary Era, showing older part east of river.
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LONG HILL ROAD
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One of the most noteworthy events in the history of Chatham is that of the publishing of the New Jersey Journal by Shepard Kollock. Mr. Kollock was born at Lewes, Delaware, in September of the year 1750. He learned the art of printing in the office of the Pennsylvania Chronicle at Philadelphia. During the beginning of the Revolutionary War he entered the army and served as first lieutenant with Colonel Neill of the Continental artillery. At the close of the campaign in 1778, through the advice of Gen. Knox, he began the publishing of his Journal in Chatham. The New Jer- sey Journal was a weekly publication and the first number bears the date Tuesday, February 16, 1779. [N. J. Journal, vol. I, No. I, N. Y. Hist. Soc. Lib., 170 W. Cent. Park, N. Y. Copies were sent by the printer to Mr. Gerardus Duyckinck, a druggist in Morristown, at the time. Mr. Duyckinck was a regular subscriber, and an advertiser in the Journal.] After Tuesday, January 25, 1780, the paper was issued on Wednesday. It was a national publication, an ardent supporter of the cause of indepen- dence, and the second newspaper printed in the State of New Jersey. The New Jersey Gazette preceded it. The first issue of the Gazette was published at Burlington by Isaac Collins, December 5, 1777. Shepard Kollock's publi- cation was known to the British as the "Rebel Paper." It was rumored that Mr. Kollock thought of locating his paper in Elizabeth Town; but the condi- tions there were so threatening that he chose Chatham, a town beyond the hills "where no British soldiery ever trod." It has been handed down through tradition that the first location of his printing office was on the island north of Main street in the Passaic river, and that afterwards Mr. Kollock bought the old parsonage in which Ebenezer Bradford taught school in Madison. This building was removed to Chatham village during the Revolutionary War, where Mr. Kollock utilized it as a printing office. [ Hist. Madison Pres. Church, Rev. Samuel L. Tuttle, p. 31.] It was located on the north side of Main street opposite Jacob Morrell's dwelling house, the present home of Mr. Fred Tallmadge. The old printing house was burned during the Civil War. It is possible that at one time the newspaper press of the New Jersey Journal was in the end of the old tavern located west of Foster Horton's store. Shep- ard Kollock's advertisement in his Journal of April 5, 1780, helps to locate his printing office. The notice reads as follows: "The highest price is given for clean linen rags by Shepard Kollock in Chatham near the liberty pole." This notice is also found under the dates August 2, and December, 1780, showing that he lived at this place during the greater part of that year. The liberty pole of Revolutionary times stood in front of the tavern kept at that time by Timothy Day. Besides printing a paper here Shepard Kollock printed books and pamphlets; and in connection with his printing office he had a store in which he sold anything from a pound of tea to farms and slaves. The following advertisement is taken from the pages of the New Jersey Journal, "To be sold at the printing office at Chatham; Swift's works, 13 volumes ; Spectator, 8 volumes; Clarissa, 8 volumes; Beauties of Prose, 4 volumes; Triumvirate, 2 vols; Collection of poems, 2 vols; Ogilvies Poems; Theoron and Aspasia; Bradford Abbie; David's Repentance ; Life of Alexander Pope; History of Greece; Lord Somners on Jurors; Testaments, and Spelling Books; also Cole's Latin Dictionary ; Greek Lexi- con; Kent's Lucien; Intro. to making Latin, etc."
Three Chatham imprints are in existence. One is "A Fast Day Sermon" delivered by Jacob Green, A. M., at Hanover, New Jersey, April 22, 1778. The following line is at the bottom of the pamphlet: "Chatham, printed by Shepard Kollock, at his office, 1779." Another imprint is entitled, "Upon
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Persons Possessing Iniquities of their Youth in After Life," by Jacob Green, printed by Shepard Kollock in Chatham, 1780. Sprague in his annals "The American Pulpit" states that Jacob Green published three sermons. It is quite probable that Shepard Kollock printed the third which has not yet been discovered. The first of these pamphlets is in the possession of Rev. Joseph Folson of Newark and the other is owned by William Nelson of Paterson. The most considerable Chatham imprint of Shepard Kollock's is a small 16mo. volume of the Psalms of David by Isaac Watts. The writer has an original copy of this Chatham imprint. This volume was printed in 1783 and contains more than 300 pages. This issue was probably published to supply the deficiency of Watts' Hymnals made by Parson Cald- well at the battle of Springfield on June 23, 1780. During this battle the Rev. Mr. Caldwell, seeing that the soldiers were in need of wadding for their muzzle-loading rifles, went to the church and brought forth an armful of these Hymnals which he passed out to the soldiers, saying as he presented them, "Now put Watts into 'em, boys !"
A complete list of Shepard Kollock's publications in Chatham, as far as it is known, is as follows : 1779, Oct. 12, Poems on Several Occurrences, Rev. Wheeler Case: I. A contest between the Eagle and the Crane; 2. A Dialogue between Col. Paine and Miss Clorinda Fairchild; 3. St. Clair's Retreat and Burgoyne's Defeat; 4. The First Chapter of the Lamentations of Gen. Burgoyne ; 5. The Fall of Burgoyne; 6. The Vanity of Trusting in an Arm of Flesh; 7. The Tragical Death of Miss Jane M'Crea; 8. An answer for the Messenger of the Nation. 1779, Verses on the Sixth, Seventh and Eighth Chapters of Genesis, Stephen Hand; 1779, Feb. 16 to Dec. 3, 1783, New Jersey Journal; 1779, Sept. 7, A Fast Day Sermon, Rev. Jacob Green, A. M .; 1779, July 20, Spelling Book; 1779, U. S. Almanac for 1780; 1780, May 24, A Short Introduction to English Gram- mar; 1780, Sermon at Newark, Uzal Ogden, Aug. 15, 1779; 1780, Apr. 12, A Sermon Designed for Instruction and Warning to Youth of both Sexes, From Job 12-26, Rev. Jacob Green, A.M .; 1780, Dec. 6, Sermon on Prac- tical Religion, Rev. Uzal Ogden; 1780, United States Almanac for 1781; 1781, Apr. 25, A View of the Christian Church and Church Government, by the Associated Presbytery of Morris Co .; 1781, A Sermon on Funeral of Elizabeth Hackett, Uzal Ogden; 1781, Nov. 30, United States Almanac for 1782; 1782, Dilworth's Spelling Book (?) ; 1782, New England Primer (?) ; 1782, U. S. Almanac for 1783 (An imperfect copy of this almanac is in the New York City Library) : 1783, Elogy on Francis Barker, Dr. Ebenezer Elmer ; 1783. The Covenant Interest of the Children of Believers, Rev. Amzi Lewis; 1783, Regeneration, A Sermon, Rev. Mr. Ogden (?) ; 1783, Psalms of David, Isaac Watts.
The rebel paper, printed in Chatham was of much concern to the British. Major Andre, the spy, in his poem entitled "The Cow Chase," made the following reference to this Whig publication. Andre pictured the parson as viewing "Mad" Anthony Wayne's retreating train after his futile attempt to capture the block house on the palisades above Weehawken.
"In his dismay, the frantic priest1 Began to grow prophetic, You had swore, to see his lab'ring breast, He'd taken an emetic.
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