USA > New Jersey > Morris County > Chatham > Brief history of Chatham, Morris County, New Jersey > Part 4
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Karmel had not yet retired, although he had been shown to his room, when he heard the tramping of a party of horsemen. His suspicion that soemthing was wrong, having been aroused, he stole noiselessly out of the house to ascertain the cause of the commotion. He was not long in learning that it was a company of British soldiers. He readily surmised from the little he heard of their conversation that Morristown was their destination and the capture of Washington their mission. Had they succeeded in their undertaking, the American Revolution would have
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HISTORY OF CHATHAM
been known in history as America's Rebellion, and instead of a Union of forty-five states, we would probably to-day still be provinces of Great Britain.
However, fate had decreed it otherwise, and Karmel the scout, to whom history has scarcely done justice, pushed on that night from Elizabeth Town to Chatham through the sleet and snow. He arrived in time to warn Washington who later made his escape. [Early files of Chatham Press.]
During one of the frequent adventures of the British soldiers in this locality in the winter of '79 and '80 the following occurrence is said to have taken place at Timothy Day's hotel on the eastern side of the Passaic River. The story was related to the author by Miss Phebe Potter. Mr. Day's hotel was opposite the Vanderpoel estate. The family upon seeing the approach of the British soldiers left the hotel and hid behind a stone wall at the rear of the house. The redcoats walked lawlessly into the house and ransacked it from cellar to attic. After their departure Mr. Day found on his return that the spigots of the wine barrels in the cellar had been opened, and that the cellar floor was flooded with wine. Not satisfied with this they had taken the feather ticks from the beds and had emptied the contents into the wine on the cellar floor making a gruesome concoction of feathers and wine. At this hotel, Jacob Morrell's dwelling house, and at the homes of Stephen Day and Aaron Ward, Washington is reported to have been a frequent visitor.
On January 30, 1780, Chatham witnessed preparations for a most dar- ing enterprise. It was Lord Sterling's hazardous attempt to attack the enemy at Staten Island. The detachment left the town with great aspira- tions, but returned much chagrined.
In the spring of 1780, Maxwell's brigade was stationed at Chatham. Following the severe winter there was a very late spring, even on May the 18th the grass was not yet green. Knyphausen was in command of the British force in New York and planned to invade New Jersey and expel from its confines the patriotic army. Consequently in the early part of June, he crossed to Staten Island and thence to Elizabeth Town. These move- ments of the British electrified the community of Chatham with military excitement and put Maxwell's troops in readiness for an encounter. It was reported that they were on their way to Morristown to capture the main depot of the army's supplies and to drive the rebels out of "the Jersies." As soon as the force of the enemy, in order and splendid array, left Elizabeth Town on the Turnpike Road towards Springfield, word was quickly passed along to Prospect Hill where the eighteen-pound signal gun, the "Old Sow," and the tar barrel were fired. Patriotic citizens of the whole country round flew to arms. The army drums at Morristown beat the soldiers in line and under the command of Washington troops marched down to Bonnel Town near Chatham to check the on-coming enemy beyond Short Hills. The militia of the surrounding country joined the main army on its way to the field of action. At Connecticut Farms the onset was checked by the forces of General Maxwell and Colonel Dayton, and the splendid army which marched out from Elizabeth Town went back to Staten Island more or less demoralized.
It was at the battle of Connecticut Farms where Mrs. James Caldwell, formerly Miss Hannah Ogden, was barbarously shot by a British mercenary. [Hatfield's Hist. Elizabeth Town. p. 488.] Mrs. Caldwell was a sister of Mrs. Stephen Day of Chatham, who lived on the northwest corner of Main and Elmwood Avenue. After the murder of his wife, Parson Caldwell moved with his children to Chatham to live with Mrs. Day. From this time until the end of the war, Parson Caldwell kept an ammunition store
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MORRIS COUNTY
in Chatham near Shepard Kollock's printing office. He was later murdered at Elizabeth Town by a man named Morgan, one of the rebel sentinels. The following incident shows how the Parson was regarded by the patriots of Chatham. Mr. Tuttle narrates that at one time when the Rev. Mr. Caldwell was about to preach in the open air in Chatham, an old soldier crowded to the front and cried out, before there was time to build a plat- form, "Let me have the honor of being his platform! Let him stand on my body ! Nothing is too good for Parson Caldwell."
After the battle of Springfield, General Washington on his return to Morristown sent word ahead to Mrs. Stephen Day that he would stop off to see her on his way through Chatham. Accordingly Mrs. Day dressed her- self in a fine black silk gown with a large white scarf about her neck and awaited the coming of her distinguished visitor. A small mahogany table was placed on the lawn in front of the house, and a pleasing repast was prepared for the General. The call was made and heartfelt words of sym- pathy were extended to Mrs. Day in behalf of the horrible murder of her sister at Connecticut Farms. Much appreciation was shown by the General for her hospitality and often afterwards it is said that Washington called at the Day Mansion. Captain Stephen Day, the husband of Mrs. Jeremiah Ogden Day was one of the staunchest patriots. He was justice of the peace under both the British and Continental rule, served in the army, and was one of the first to aid the Continentals when requisitions for supplies were made. It is said that he gave a whole beef when the first call was issued.
The British were not vanquished by the repulse at Connectieut Farins, and on the 23rd of June, 1780, early in the morning they left camp at Eliza- beth Point and set out, five thousand strong under Knyphausen, in the direction of Short Hills. Again the old eighteen pounder and the tar barrel on Prospect Hill gave signals of the approach of the enemy. The militia was hastily collected from every quarter to guard the pass over the hill. A fierce encounter took place in Springfield at the end of which the Con- tinentals came off victorious. Parson Caldwell was very active in this en- gagement. It was here that he supplied the soldiers with psalm books, out of which to make wads. Although the enemy was finally driven back to Elizabeth Town, it was not done until great damage was committed in the town. It is said that all the houses were burned excepting four. The Americans under General Green lost thirteen killed, forty-nine wounded. First Lieutenant Thompson of the New Jersey artillery was one of the slain. The loss of the enemy is not recorded but it was doubtless much greater than that of the Americans. With this victory, ended all possibilities of the British ever passing beyond the Watchung Mountains.
When the news came that the British were advancing towards Spring- field, there was great consternation in Chatham. The possibility of their defeating the Americans, threatened an invasion.of the country beyond the mountains, and in order to safe guard themselves, the greater part of the inhabitants packed their goods in readiness to flee, and in excitement, awaited the outcome of the battle. There was great relief when Mr. Ball on horseback came over the hill with the news that the enemy had been driven back.
The soldiers wounded at Springfield were brought to Chatham and cared for in Timothy Day's Tavern, which became a veritable hospital. Parson Caldwell and many heroic women joined in relieving the suffering soldiers housed within the town at this time.
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Colonel Barber's detachment fell back to Chatham for a short period and then set out for Elizabeth Town. Washington at this time lay in the vicinity of Rockaway ready to reinforce his troops if necessary. Through- out the winter of 1780 and '81, the Pennsylvania troops of Mad Anthony Wayne were stationed at Morristown. It was during this winter of hardship caused by the lack of money in circulation and the wholesale counterfeiting by the tories of the community, that the soldiers under General Wayne mutinied and marched to the Continental Congress at Princeton. Much heroism was shown by the patriots of this vicinity in their attempt to relieve the distressed army at Morristown. The story of Rhoda Farrand's driving around and collecting clothing for the soldiers is illustrative of the loyal spirit ardently aglow in the breast of each patriot. The success of the Pennsylvania regiments in obtaining redress of their grievances, prompted the New Jersey troops at Pompton to attempt the same performance. On the night of the 20th of January, 1781, a brigade of one hundred sixty men from Pompton marched to Chatham and urged the troops stationed there to join them in their revolt. General Washington on hearing of their plans immediately dispatched under General Howe a de- tachment to arrest the movement and to punish the leaders. Howe arrived in the village on the morning of the 21st and surrounded the mutineers encamped in front of Timothy Day's Tavern. Colonel Barber commanded them to parade without arms to designated grounds. The revolters hesi- tated to obey and Colonel Sprout was ordered to advance with his regiment and give them five minutes to comply with the command. Under the threat of bayonets and leveled muskets they instantly complied with the order. Three of the leaders were tried and executed on the spot. This was prob- ably the most exciting military maneuver of the war in the immediate con- fines of Chatham. [Hist. of New Jersey, Sypher and Apgar, p. 175, Memoir of Major Shaw, by Hon. Josiah Quincy, p. 89.]
Soon after the victory at Springfield the scene of action shifted to the south. On the 23d of August, 1781, the French army crossed the Hudson and proceeded on its march to Chatham where for more than ten days artificers were building ovens and forming an encampment on the east side of the Passaic in order to deceive Sir Henry Clinton then holding New York. [Diary of American Revolution, Frank Moore, p. 466.] Washing- ton had decided to close up the war by couping Cornwallis with the main British army in Yorktown, Virginia. In accordance with this idea he had ordered the French regiments and the New Jersey brigades to move south- ward to Virginia, and in order to mislead Clinton, these pretences of estab- lishing permanent quarters at Chatham were made. On the arrival of the French army at Chatham Dayton's brigade was found stationed at this place. The French division, uniformed in black. with red trimmings, made a most striking spectacle. The Royal Deux-Ponts were decked in white broadcloth coats faced with green, and the heavy artillery men in blue with white facings. The French grenadiers who were acknowledged as the elite of the corps marched at the head of each battalion, wearing buckskin hats and distinctive uniforms. No grander spectacle of military parade has ever been presented to the people of Chatham before or since. The allied armies of the French and the Americans marched by different routes in four divisions across the state towards Trenton on their way to Philadelphia. The right column of the Continentals, composed of Hazen's regiment, the corps of sappers and miners, the artillery stores, the haggage, and the thirty flathoats on carriages passed on the 28th through Chatham on its way to
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Bound Brook. The left column under Major General Lincoln separated from the right at Chatham and joined the left at Trenton on the 31st, having marched by way of New Brunswick to Princeton. It can readily be imagined, on the arrival in Chatham of the right and left Continentals driving great herds of cattle before them, with many covered wagons carrying the baggage and tents, and the troops of soldiers permeated with the spirit of victory, that an unusual spectacle was presented to the patriots of this vicinity. Those too sick or lame to march were permitted to ride. It is said that the women contingent to this military procession, were of considerable annoyance since they were not amenable to military discipline. The following order was issued in consequence of their behavior: "Prior to the commencement of our march this morning the commanding officers will inform the women of their re- spective corps that the General saw many of them yesterday from their proper line of march, strolling in gardens and orchards, an irregularity which must not be repeated. Should any attempt it hereafter they will be denied their rations and prevented farther from following the army." [Story of an Old Farm, A. D. Mellick, p. 536.]
Both the French and Continental troops, which came down from the north with all their artillery and baggage wagons, encamped immediately in front of Day's Tavern, east of the road leading southward to Turkey. Many of the soldiers were quartered in the homes of the community. The Bonnel house on Watchung avenue, in Stanley, was filled to its utmost capacity. Mrs. Bonnel was not content with giving them shelter alone ; but all the night long by the stepping back and forth over the soldiers sleeping on her kitchen floor she baked bread that the needy army might be better fed on their long march to the south. What a beautiful exhibition of patriotism this was! On a certain evening the camp looked as usual ; fires were lighted, sentries were set, and all the soldiers numbering at least 6,000 were appar- ently ready for the night. On the following morning, both as a surprise to the local inhabitants and to the British spies who were lurking in the com- munity, there was nothing left on the site of the encamping army excepting wooden sheds and the ovens which the soldiers had built. The two divisions marched in separate directions as heretofore stated. This gorgeous exhibi- tion of military pomp was a fitting close to the Revolutionary excitement of the unmolested country, lying to the west beyond the hills.
As the winter of 1782 drew to a close the sounds of war died out with only occasional reminders by the way of news through some express rider who broughts accounts of the closing events, or groups of soldiers return- ing home honorably discharged from service. For some years after the war, the log cabins used during the winter of 1776 and '77, were to be seen at Lowantica ; and the old pretentious sheds and ovens opposite Day's Tavern were ostentatious reminders of the long and dreadful conflict. The ovens were thoughtlessly torn down in 1835.
A few troops, some officers, and prisoners of war were quartered in Chatham up to the time of the signing of the Treaty of Paris. It would not be fitting to close the Chatham account of the Revolution- ary struggle without making mention of the ill-fated Capt. Asgill who was for a time immediately following the war imprisoned in the town. Captain Josiah Huddy was an active patriot of Monmouth county, and through his vigilant action in suppressing the Tory insurrections he became a marked man by the treacherous refugees. In the spring of 1782, Huddy was captured at Tom's River and transported to New York. He was
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charged with the killing of a man by the name of White, and was barbar- ously hanged under the command of Captain Lippincott at Gravelly Point, Staten Island. This inhuman murder filled the country with indignation. It was insisted that the British commander should deliver up Lippincott or otherwise some English officer in the hands of the Continentals should die instead. Steps were taken to carry out this threat by selecting eight Captains and five Lieutenants, on parole in Pennsylvania, from among whom one man, to be fated by lot, was to pay the penalty. The die was cast in Lancaster, Pa. at the Black Bear Tavern, and the unfortunate lot
fell to Captain Asgill of the foot guards the youngest officer present.
The ill-fated officer was escorted by Major Gordon to the Jersey line. At Chatham. the place assigned for his execution, he was put in the charge of Colonel Elias Dayton of the second New Jersey regiment. Washington wrote to Colonel Dayton on the 4th of June, 1781, as follows: "Treat Cap- tain Asgill with every tenderness and association. and politeness consistent with his present situation which his rank, fortune, and connections, together with his private state, demands!" A few days later Washington wrote the following: "Sir, I am informed that Captain Asgill is at Chatham without a guard, and under no restraint. This, if true, is certainly wrong; I wish to have the young gentleman treated with all possible tenderness consistent with his present situation, but considered as a close prisoner and kept in the greatest security. I request, therefore, that he may be sent immediately to the Jersey Line where he is to be kept close prisoner in perfect security till further orders." [Story of an Old Farm. A. D. Mellick, p. 545.] Ulti- mately Sir Guy Carlton succeeded in satisfying the colonial government that the execution of Huddy was not without good reason. Meanwhile Congress was besieged with communications for the release of Asgill. This together with the prospect of peace impelled Congress finally to grant to Asgill a reprieve. On the 7th of November. Colonel Dayton at Morristown gave his prisoner unconditional liberty.
The part played by Chatham in the struggle for freedom was no small one. Not only was the place a strategic point while Washington was en- camped during the two trying winters at Morristown, but it also sent its full quota of men to the firing line and furnished a large amount of supplies for the needy army. Some fitting memorial should be erected in honor of the service rendered by this community during those threatening days of the Revolution. In closing this part of the history of Chatham it is quite ap- propriate to insert a eulogy written by the poet, Charles D. Platt, of this county :
CHATHAM BRIDGE.
Not far to seek is Chatham Bridge As on the highway you may ride From Morristown along the ridge To Madison; here let us bide A moment-list! the ghostly tramp Of troops who once came here to camp.
Then on we ride through Chatham, till The Chatham Bridge at last we reach ; Here as we rest let memory fill The mind with what this spot can teach ; Here let us think of the days of old And tales that of those times are told.
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Hither came all who sought to cross Passaie's stream and onward fare; Here guards were set, for it were loss If o'er this bridge the foe should dare To pass and raid the land or make Some prisoner-all was here at stake.
A company was ordered here By good Benoni Hathaway Of Morristown; it doth appear In pension lists of that far day, That they were led, that company, By Timothy Tuttle of Whippany.
And here on guard stood Ashbel Green A little time as sentinel, When but a youth ; his age, I ween, Was fifteen years, yet he guarded well This Chatham Bridge and made arrest Of one whose case was none the best.
And here it was that General Winds Met a British officer afield : Here those two warriors spoke their minds And the Briton thought it best to yield ; So Winds escorted him on his way As he retreated home that day.
These are but trifling tales, in sooth, And yet they point to matters fraught With destiny, this is but truth, As you shall quickly now be taught ; 'Tis in the annals of our State With other matters small and great.
1779-'80.
On Kemble hill our army lay And Washington his quarters had In Morristown and made his stay At Colonel Ford,'s, as I might add ; When forth there rode a daring force, A squadron of the British horse.
From Staten Island on they came And in the night they took their way; They passed the sentinels, the same That at Short Hills were set to stay Marauding bands, o'er Chiatham Bridge They crossed, and started up the ridge
To Bottle Hill; but snow and hail Had clogged their speed through all the night; They saw their plan would surely fail And back they turned in sorry plight; For their steeds were lamed by iey crust That cut their feet-retreat they must.
Their guide, he was I know not who, But that he was an American ; And, fearing he would not be true Unto their cause, they set the man Within a hollow square, and so, Swords drawn, in haste they homeward go.
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Back to the point they safely rode To which they had crossed when they set out From Staten Island, their abode. 'Twas known then what they were about, And moved was all the country side On hearing of that midnight ride.
For had their errand met success, What it had wrought, no man can say; Our cause had been one man the less ; One man the less, mean what that may; Ah! Had they stolen our Washington, Our cause, God wot, had been undone .*
*Ballads of New Jersey in the Revolution, Chas. D. Platt, p. 141.
[Other residents besides those mentioned on map entitled Revolutionary Era, were William Darling. Thomas Randall, Mathias Woodruff, Joseph Grummon, Samuel Alling, Elihu Linley, Jacob Hallet (had store 1779). ]
The War of 1812-The community of Chatham was ever characterized by its military spirit. Not only was this shown in Revolutionary and Civil War times but also in the War of 1812. Captain Abraham Brittin who lived at Union Hill, and was allied with the spirit of the town was one of the leaders in military affairs. After the Revolution he was captain of a group of soldiers known as the fusiliers of Chatham. This company with Captain Brittin at the head went to the front during the war and was in active service from September 1, 1814, until December 3 of the same year.
L'isit from Lafayette-The year 1824 is a memorable one in the history of Chatham. Forty-one years had passed since the dreadful Revolutionary conflict had ended. It was at this time that a noted warrior of the Revolu- tion now an aged man came to visit the scenes of warfare between Great Britain and her transatlantic colony. Again he passed over the road from Elizabeth Town to Chatham where his aide and distant relative, Count D'Anteroche, won the love of Polly Vanderpoel.
Elaborate preparations were made for the great general. The stars and stripes were flung from every home, and veterans of the war stood with uncovered heads when the revered Marquis D'Lafayette passed by. In the house where Mrs. Hamblen now lives, on the northeast corner of Main and Elmwood Ave. the Marquis was entertained. The main reception was held in Madison. A great number of the young girls of the town of Chatham, dressed in their prettiest costumes, took part in the formal exercises of the reception. No greater honor and heartfelt gratitude was ever given to any foreign visitor than that extended to the aged Lafayette
Churches-The Rev. David Brainard, of the school of Jonathan Ed- wards, was the first missionary to the Indians in New Jersey. His evan- gelistic work extended throughout the State, and was exercised not only toward the Indians but also toward the white settlers. In his journal he relates traveling from Crosweeksung, at the forks of the Delaware, to Elizabethtown. This journey, which was made in 1746, led him over the old Minisink trail which passed through Chatham. He further states that he stopped at Connecticut Farms and preached. While there is no state- ment to the effect that he visited the church at Hanover yet we are led to infer that he did not pass it without a visitation. [Life of Brainard, by Jonathan Edwards, pp. 254, 273.1
The early settlers of the upper Passaic were Scotch Presbyterians and
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Chatham in Revolutionary Era, showing older part east of river.
Drawn by James M. Littlejohn.
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attended religious services at Whippany where a Presbyterian church was built in 1718. [History of Presbyterian Church at Madison, p. Io.] In 1748 a church was built in South Hanover, Hanover Neck, which the mem- bers of the Whippany church in this part of the township of Hanover attended. The Presbyterian church at Bottle Hill, Madison, was built in 1765, and was largely composed of patrons from the town of Chatham.
The Methodists of this vicinity previous to 1800 were related to the church at Turkey, New Providence, until a union meeting house was built in the year 1808, for the accommodation of both Methodists and Presbyterians. This building stood north of Main Street and west of the bridge near Gen- eral Mahlon Minton's store. This first church in Chatham was a two story building without bell or cupola, and had galleries on three sides of its walls. These were used only when the congregations were unusually large, which happened invariably on the occasion of a funeral.
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